X Men Adversaries: Sabretooth
by ptarn
Summary: Victor must come to terms with the decisions he's made since Jimmy walked out on him, but not before he tracks down the escaped children. Scott tries to reconcile his past and future. What happens when the young and the old face each other?
1. Search

**Author's Note: **This story and its characters are based entirely on the Marvel Universe as sketched in the movie "X-Men Origins: Wolverine". The story doesn't acknowledge any of the storylines from the three previous X-Men movies, except where they didn't clash with my view of the characters. Most known Marvel characters have more or less loose ties with their official backgrounds, but I altered their backgrounds and personalities wherever and however I thought fitted this story. I do not own any of the known Marvel characters in this story. All other characters are mine, including any mutant not previously mentioned in any Marvel or other comic (most noteworthy: Caroline O'Reilly or 'Herd'). Victor and Scott are the main characters and protagonists. Wolverine is 'out of the picture' for the most part.

In regards to the children that were being held captive: Some of them have been confirmed to be in the movie (Pietro, Wanda, Emma), others (like Mortimer, David, Jack, Jhimon, Zhau, Sean, Nicole and Claudette) are in my opinion the most likely candidates to fit the powers or appearances as seen in the movie. Jack Hannigan is the name I've given to the mutant Fever Pitch, since he doesn't have any offically confirmed identity and I thought it would be silly to keep referring to the kid as 'that burning boy' or something like that (especially since the aliases are only chosen after their powers manifest most of the time). Anyway, enough from me already, enjoy the story!

* * *

**X-Men Adversaries: Sabretooth**

_**Search**_

Victor tried to clear his mind by closing his eyes for a minute. He sat underneath a tree at the edge of the clearing where just minutes before a mysterious mutant had appeared out of nowhere and had whisked away the freed mutant children. He hadn't actually seen it happen, but the overabundance of scents that lingered in the air told him all he needed to know. However, going after the children and their benefactor was the last thing he was concerned with at this time. Everything that had happened in the last couple of hours kept going through his mind. One sentence repeated itself over and over again: _Why the hell did I do that?_

Never before in his life had the feral mutant felt this conflicted about his actions. _The look on his face when I helped him... And the fight, back to back, just like in the old days... Why'd it feel so right?_ Ever since Logan had walked out on him, Victor had acted like the beast he'd always thought he was, rounding up, torturing or killing whomever Stryker told him to. Going from one assignment to the other, enjoying the hunt, revelling in the resistance and ultimately the fear in his victims' eyes... He'd never given any of it a second thought. _Not since Jimmy walked away from it all._ Feelings he'd thought he'd buried when Logan had left him had hit him today with the impact of a six-tonne truck. _The years of hatred, of trying to seek revenge... They vanished almost completely when I saw how that retched abomination was about to kill him! No one comes between us, no one! And I didn't lie when I told you, Jimmy... We're brothers. And brothers look out for each other. We're more than just brothers, the bond we share goes beyond anything a mere human could ever understand. Not even that bitch school teacher of yours knew you like I know you. We're the same, like two sides of the same coin._

Every time he'd come up against Logan, even after his brother had gotten the adamantium, he'd felt more alive than ever. The thrill of the fight against an equal had left Victor craving for more every time. It was like a drug and he had to have his shots on a regular basis. _So... And now what? Stryker's gone, the facility is gone, any chance I'd ever have of getting that adamantium is gone. Even you're gone, Jimmy. You wrecked everything, like you did before, and you walked away without a care in the world. I was supposed to watch over you, not the other way around! Fuck you! I should've left you in that forest to die or I should've... I should have... killed you when I had the chance..._

Even to himself those words sounded hollow. Just like he knew they could never again be the brothers they once were, Victor knew he could never 'just' kill Logan. _He's a part of me. And I'm a part of him. We're bound by our heritage and no one can come between us. __Even if we hate each other's guts!_

"But that doesn't mean I can't hurt you, Jimmy..."

His words were lost in the silence, heard by no one but a few lonely animals. A smile appeared on his face and he stood up. _I can hurt you like no one else can. I can find you anywhere. Your scent's always been easy to follow. And I will track you down! But... I have other things to concern myself with for now. I'll just let you think you're safe, let you think I'm not after you anymore. And when you'll least expect it, I'll hunt you down and kill everyone in my path. For now... I think I'll pay a visit to a new friend who's taken some of my acquintances with him._ He smelled the air around him intently, storing every scent in his memory, even that of the fuel of the helicopter. _A-ha, got you!_

During their time in the army, both Victor and Logan had picked up considerable knowledge of army technology. Even though he didn't know the exact type of helicopter that had been used, he knew the flight range of most current models. _And taking a whole bunch of children with you requires a larger helicopter, which narrows the range of models down considerably. I'm guessing it's one of those Super Puma's, which would mean that they're not far from here, around eight hundred and fifty kilometers maximum._ He sniffed the air once more to find the direction the helicopter had taken off in. _Across the water. Of course. He couldn't fly too high and he would have had to keep away from main roads and crowded areas, so it shouldn't be too hard to figure out which routes he could've taken. Besides… Hiding escaped mutant children means having a large building, a safe place. And there aren't many of those around in these parts._

"Well, let's see where you're hiding, mystery man."

The savage grin on his face didn't fade as he made his way out of the small park in silence.


	2. Listen

**Author's Note:** On to the next part. This is where we one of the story's other main players, Scott Summers. Be aware that this is a completely different Scott than the one either in the older X-Men movies or the comics. He has a major chip on his shoulder and not just in regards to his past. The reason I chose to switch to Scott's perspective in a story named after my favorite X-Men villain - Sabretooth - is that to me the story becomes more interesting than just sticking with ol' Victor for the entire run. When writing the parts that revolve around Scott, certain other characters started to intrude, wanting to be heard. All the characters that you meet from here on are either based on what I believe to be the best candidates for the children you see imprisoned in the movie or charaters that in my opinion would be at the mansion already. Certain characters will be completely new and made up by me. Don't worry, I'll make sure none of them starts to exhibit the dreaded "Mary Sue-traits" (at least, I hope I'm past that kind of character).

Enjoy the story and don't hesitate to let me know what you think. After all, English isn't my first language (I'm Dutch) and while I hope I use the right grammar and spelling and such, I'm not always sure. And if you spot some incongruity in the story, I'd be very grateful to hear it (so I can correct it). ^^

*****

_**Listen**_

_I really, really want to get rid of this thing!_ Scott thought anxiously when they'd arrived wherever the hell it was. The last couple of hours had been both horrendous, marvelous and downright taxing on him and the other children. And _why did he pick me, of all people, to start talking to?_ He still couldn't quite understand what had happened and how, only that someone had been guiding them to a safe location. _A mutant. And a telepathic one at that._ Oh, Scott had known about the existance of other mutants, but he'd never actually met one of them. He'd never really wanted too, either. _All I wanted was to be left alone, to try and lead a normal life… I didn't ask for this! I didn't ask to be a freak who has to wear shades because he can't look people in the eye anymore!_

Even as he said this to himself, he knew how childish he'd been how naieve. _I never had a choice… Never stood a chance. I'm a mutant and for that I'll be persecuted the rest of my life. Even by other mutants._ The horror of seeing that big brute tapping on the window of the classroom had been enough to send him running. He'd been chased around the school like a mouse being hunted by a cat, knowing he ultimately couldn't survive. But Scott had flatout refused to use his power to fight the other mutant. _I can't control it… Who knows how many people could've gotten hurt?_ When the beast-like man had tackled him, his glasses had fallen off… And large parts of the school building suffered because of it. Still he had pleaded with his captor to stop, to don't make him use his optic blast. Then another player had entered the game. _He called the feral mutant Victor, told him that it was enough. What the hell would he have done to me if the other guy hadn't told him to stop?_ After that, nothing. _Until I woke up in that awful room…_

A hand gently touched his shoulder.

"We'll be okay now, Scott, don't worry. I'm sure professor Xavier will find a way to get rid of that eye cover and make sure you don't go blasting other people's heads off by accident."

Emma had stayed with him during the helicopter flight and had guided him to the building they were in now. He'd felt her skin change to the hardest diamond as they'd worked together to escape the facility. _It had felt… comfortable. Safe._ She hadn't left him, not even for a moment. After her intial doubts, when he'd told them where to go to escape, she had decided to watch over him until he could use his eyes again. While flying to safety, the children had shared their stories with each other. Some were similar to his, others were heart-breaking. _And Emma's sister…_ He'd heard them say good bye. When she'd told her story, she ended it with saying she knew Kayla was dead.

"I just know… She died during our flight. I think… I think she was already dying when she told me to go. S-she told me to go… And she was hurt! I could've saved her, taken her with me… But now she's gone, she's gone, she's gone…"

She'd starting sobbing and before he knew what he was doing, Scott had taken her in his arms and held her close.

"Ssshhh… You're gonna be alright, you'll see, everything will be alright…"

Hollow words, spoken only when comforting another person in emotional distress. _It won't be alright,_ he thought bitterly, nothing's ever gonna be alright ever again.

"Scott Summers? The professor will see you now," a gentle voice announced.

"I'll come too," Emma stated.

"Of course. Come in, come in, he's waiting for you."

As Scott passed the unknown mutant, he thought it strange that someone was wearing a fur coat in this time of year. _Guess not everyone thinks it's a nice, warm day._ Emma guided him to a chair. He heard her grabbing another chair, pushing it next to his and sitting down. Her hand grabbed his.

"Welcome mister Summers, miss Frost. I can't tell you how glad I am to see you here. I've been wanting to speak to the both of you ever since we arrived at my mansion, but unfortunately I had other pressing matters to attend. My friend, doctor Hank McCoy, has helped me finish those matters considerably faster than I thought, but it still meant that you had to wait for me for quite some time. So, my first question would be: Have you had a decent meal already?"

As soon as that question was asked, Scott heard his stomach rumble. How long have we been here? I can't remember the last time I had a half-way decent meal.

"No sir, we haven't eaten anything since we got here. We did get something to drink from one of the other children, though, but I don't think any of us has eaten anything yet."

"I suspected as much. Forgive me, but I was concerned with making sure everyone got out alright and didn't even think about how long it must've been since you've eaten something. Hank, would you be so kind as to ask the other children what they would like to eat? Maybe some of them will want to accompany you when you go get it. I'll contact Eric to let him know we got most of them out safely and see if he can return tonight. We have much to discuss."

"Of course, professor! It'll be my pleasure to see to it those hungry mouths are fed."

Scott actually heard the smile when the man in the fur coat said that. _I wonder what he looks like?_ The professer waited until Hank had left before he resumed the conversation.

"Now then, on to more serious business. Scott, it was in part thanks to you that I was able to find the facility you were being kept at and rescue you and the others. I was keeping my eye on you ever since you discovered your power."

"Wait, what?"

Emma's hand tightened around his. _She certainly didn't see that one come either!_

"What do you mean, 'ever since I discovered my power'? You've been keeping tabs on me? Why? And why didn't you help me when that bastard kidnapped me?"

"Relax, Scott. I'll try and explain if you let me. You see, I've been monitoring various mutants throughout the past years, becoming aware of them as soon as they exhibit powers of a certain level. There are much more mutants out there, but Cerebro isn't quite up to the task of finding every one of them. Not yet, anyway. Whenever I locate one of those mutant children, like you, I keep as close an eye on them as I can. Unfortunately I don't have a lot of resources and the people I trust to help me with this task are few and far between. You've met Hank and I hope you'll meet Eric either tonight or tomorrow. And that's it as far as mutant friends are concerned. I have a few non-mutant friends, but it saddens me to say that I can't trust all of them completely. So the reason why you were attacked and kidnapped before I or anyone else could step in, is simply that we weren't aware of the impending attack or the attack itself at that time. I'm sorry for what you had to go through, Scott, but I wasn't in a position to help you."

"So, that's it? I couldn't help you at that time? Sorry Scott, for the pain you had to endure in that horrid place? Sorry I couldn't protect you from being taken from your school, your loved ones? That's IT? Well, professor, I'm sorry to say that I don't give a shit about how you feel. You could have tried to warn me, hell, you're PSYHIC! You talked to me in my mind just a couple of hours ago and you couldn't even warn me somehow? That's just great, that's just… great, you know? Thanks for nothing, professor! I mean… DAMN!"

Every time he pronounced the word 'professor' it carried a mocking undertone. _I hate you! Because of you I was experimented on, I was hurt… And I know that's not fair. It's not fair at all that I think that… But for fuck's sake, someone has to know how I feel! Someone has to pay for what I've been through!_

**No, it's not fair, Scott. But being a mutant is never fair. The sooner you learn that, the sooner you'll be at peace with your place in the world.**

_What the-? Get out of my head, professor… NOW!_

Even though he still couldn't see a thing, he heard the sharp intake of breath the professor took after his forceful rejection.

"Scott? What happened?"

Emma's voice sounded worried. He squeezed her hand a little.

"Nothing happened, Emma. Just a… difference of opinion, that's all. Right, professor?"

"Yes. Yes, I owe you an apology. More than an apology, I'm afraid. I thought I could reason with you by accessing the top-most layer of your conscious thought, but I was wrong. I have to say I'm surprised by how you managed to drive me out… And now you're even blocking me. Are you a telepath too, Scott?"

"I don't think so. I just don't want anyone in my head and frankly, if you go around doing this to people, I don't think I want anything to do with you. Emma, get me out of here. We're done."

He started to get up, but Emma pushed him down again.

"Scott, please… I don't know what happened and I see you're upset, but please, he's the only one who can help us. Just listen to him. We can always decide to leave afterwards. Please stay. For me?"

_How can I say no to you? You helped me, stayed with me… I like you, Emma. And I don't want to leave without you._

"I'll stay… For you. So, continue, professor. When I something I don't like, I'll bite my tongue. After you're done, I'll speak my mind. Let's see where we go from there."

Professor Xavier sighed.

"Fair enough. Alright, as I said, I keep an eye on various mutants who've just discovered their powers. The reason for that is that we started to get more and more reports of mutant teenagers disappearing from their homes shortly after they emerged as active mutants. Hank started to think some sort of government agency might be behind the disappearances, since the mutations of those children all had the possibility to be applied as a weapon. Take your friend, Emma. Her skin can turn hard as diamond, which would make for perfect armor against any physical attack. Or your power, Scott. Imagine soldiers with lasers that would never be depleted. Or take the powers of that boy, Sean. He can eavesdrop on conversations being held in closed rooms or some distance away and he scramble electronic devices. And all those powers don't require additional equipment to be hauled along and they work without any source of electricity. Can you imagine the kind of super soldier they could create with powers such as those?"

_It sounds plausible. In fact, it sounds more than probable. It's the kind of thing any government could do. Would do, if they'd thought mutants posed a threat. But…_

"That doesn't explain why you didn't rescue us sooner. Or set up some kind of surveillance to make sure no other kids would disappear. Or why you didn't warn me!"

"I didn't warn you, because we didn't know you would be the next target. We thought they were hunting down a certain other mutant, one with an accelerated healing factor. He proved to be very illusive to find. By the time we tracked him down, one of my human friends informed me that you'd been taken. Our only course of action then was to follow him, since he was our only lead. It turned out to be a good gamble, because he was actually planning on finding and destroying the place you and the others were being held captive. Unfortunately, even though I'm probably I'm one of the most powerful telepaths of our time, I can't contact someone over distances that vast. We lost the mutant when he was on his way here. Luckily I was close enough to pick up your unique mental signature in time so I could help you and the others escape."

It took a few moments for Scott to absorb the scope of what professor Xavier had just told him._ I… I didn't know there was so much going on. _Again he realized how childish he'd been. _I'm just one person and here I am, with people who've been trying to help children they don't even know. I was just a part of it and let's face it… Not even a big part._ Only then did it hit home: _I'm a mutant and I will be all my life. There are others out there who face much bigger problems than I've faced. God, how much more screwed up can my life get?_

"Scott, are you alright?"

Again it was Emma's voice that pulled him back into the world.

"Yeah... I mean, no! I'm not alright, not at all! My life's been screwed up for no other reason than that I'm a... A mutant! I'm a freak, an outcast and I'll never go back to the life I had. God, I just wanna punch someone! I just... I just wish..."

A lonely tear leaked out from under his eye cover. He was very grateful that no one spoke, that he got a moment to get himself together again.

"Could you... Is it possible to remove this thing from my eyes? I only need a pair of sunglasses, with red glass... I want to look at people again. I want to see you, Emma. Look you in the eyes and thank you for what you've done. And I want to see you, professor, I want to... Look you in the eyes too."

"I'll see what I can do, Scott. I'm sure it won't be a problem finding you the right pair of sunglasses to wear. I'm curious about something, though: You can't control your... optic blast? Not at all?"

A painful memory shot through his head before Scott had a chance to seal it away again. _I'm so sorry!_

"No, I-I can't. Believe me, I've tried, but I just can't. I can't turn it off any more than someone else could stop their bowels from moving. The only way I can stop it is by closing my eyes..."

His memory of that first time, waking up with that burning sensation in his eyes. Nothing helped, short of keeping his eyes open under the shower. At breakfast, with tears obscuring his sight, his stepfather asked what was wrong. Scott kept rubbing his eyes, unable to make the burning go away. When his stepmother came over and told him to let her look at his eyes... _NO! Go away, go away! I didn't do that, I didn't!_

**Scott? What's going on? I can almost hear your thoughts without trying... Who were those people?**

_No, no, no, NO! GET OUT! GET OUT! I DON'T WANT TO SEE IT AGAIN!_

Someone's chair fell over as Scott thought those words, followed by a short scream from Emma. She let go of his hand and he heard her walking over to the man he'd apparantly just caused to fall. _Who did I do that? I'm not a telepath, am I? I just wanted him to get out of my head._

"Professor? Professor, are you okay?"

"Yes, yes, I'm fine, miss Frost. If you want to help me get up... No harm's done. I think your friend has some... issues to work through, that's all. And I should really learn to keep my nose out of other people's business, even if I only try to help them."

"I-I'm truly sorry, professor Xavier. It's too much to take in all at once. Is there a place I could just rest for a while? Be alone for a bit, try to get things straightened out in my head. And maybe you could, you know, hurry with those sunglasses?"

"Of course, Scott. I have had rooms prepared for you and your fellow escapees. Emma, please guide Scott up the first stairs to your right and then pick any room you like. In the mean while, I'll go ask Hank about the food and inform Eric to see if he can pick something up for you on his way here. And I... I have to apologize to you too, Scott. I want to help people, but it seems I get carried away more than I like now and then. Please accept my sincerest apologies in this matter."

Emma took hold of Scott's hand and guided it upwards. He touched the other man's hand and hesitated briefly. Then he gripped the professor's hand and shook it. _We'll just see where we go from here, Xavier. And if I don't like where we're going, I'll be out of here before you even notice it._

"Apology accepted... professor."


	3. Track

**Author's Note:** First off, a big 'thank you' to my readers and reviewers, it feels really great to know people enjoy this story. Second, I hope I've written this chapter well, since I've never written... this kind of thing before this explicitly. Read on and enjoy!

*****

_**Track**_

After a few days of doggedly following both the scent of the helicopter and its occupants and hearing about occasional sightings, Victor had finally narrowed down the area in which the mutant should reside. Unfortunately he'd come across a problem: Heavy rain had almost completely wiped out any residual scents in the air and the area he'd entered was one with a very low population. Sightings had become rare, but when he'd visited a local store, his luck has changed.

"Now, let's try to get it right this time. I'm gonna ask you a question and you're gonna answer it as truthfully as you can. Don't even think about lying to me, I'll smell it."

The smell of fear that came from the man was getting stronger by the minute. Victor took a deep breath through his nose, closed his eyes for an instant and treasured it. _Aahh… Good old fashioned fear. I haven't smelled enough of that in the last days._

"Good. I can… see I'm getting through to you. Karl, was it? Well, Karl, I'm looking for someone. A mutant. He used a helicopter to take a bunch of children with him and I really, really want to find them. Now I'm guessing he has to live around here and he's probably in some sort of large house, a mansion perhaps. You are a local resident, you must know what I'm talking about. So… Where is he, Karl? And don't make me ask again."

He extended his claws slowly in front of Karl's eyes as he emphasized his last sentence. _And there it is, finally._ He saw the look of naked fear on the man's face. _Now that's more like it._

"I-I think… Maybe you're talking about… About that professor guy, what's his name… Xavier? H-He lives up the road, in a-a mansion, a large mansion. I-I even think it's some sort of… school? A-and he owns a helicopter, at least I think he does… Please, please, don't hurt me! It's the truth, I don't know anything else! Sometimes a friend of his comes here to get some groceries, but that's all! I don't know him, I don't know any of them! Please, let me go, I swear I won't tell anyone about you, please!"

"Some kind of school, you say? Interesting. Thank you for you information, Karl. It's been a pleasure to meet you. You don't mind me leaving you tied up like that, do you? I have to buy myself some time to get out of here."

"N-no, I don't mind, not at all! G-glad to be of service, mister…?"

"Creed. Victor Creed. Be seeing you, Karl."

The relief that oozed from the man when Victor turned around and pretended to leave filled his nostrils. _This is always the best part._ He took a few steps, stopped and turned around.

"Ah, but wait," he said slowly, savouring every word, "I almost forgot something, Karl."

The face of his prey showed confusion. _He doesn't realize it yet. They almost never do._ He walked up to the shop keeper and squatted down in front of him.

"You see, Karl, I have this… thing with people. I don't trust them. Furthermore, I have this… Shall we call it an 'urge'? To make sure people don't screw me over. And that's bad news for you, Karl. Because the only way I can make sure you don't screw me over, is to kill you."

It took a moment for Victor's words to sink in. _Oh, how I love this part._ Then, suddenly, the change came. Karl's eyes widened, the stink of fear filled the air. Beads of sweat started to appear on his forehead.

"I see you get what I'm saying, Karl. Now… Do a favor, alright?"

The terrified man could only gape at him, lost for words.

"Scream. It makes this some much more fun."

Victor stood up and extended his claws to their full length. As he smiled at Karl, he bared his fangs. He lifted his right hand slowly.

"Oh god, NOOOOOO!"

He slashed open the man's face, his claws ripping through the tendons of Karl's jaw. Blood spurted from the wound, covering his hand. Instead of quickly finishing off his prey, Victor took the time to taste the warm blood. _Hmmm… Just right._ Again he slashed at the man, using his other hand, practically gutting him. Already the screams had become incoherent, primal, voicing pain beyond rationality. He squatted again, taking hold of the bowels that started to slither out of the gaping wound. _So soft, so fragile, so warm. _He yanked them free, revelling in the inhuman squeels that came from the dying man. _We're nothing like you, nothing! Don't you get it, Jimmy? They're weak, pathetic. We're better than they are. Stronger, faster, smarter. Not afraid to take what we want. They're just waste, a dead end in evolution. We're not like them, why doesn't that get through that thick skull of yours!_

In a sudden fit of rage Victor dug his claws into the man's chest, grabbing his ribs. Without any visible effort he cracked open Karl's ribcage and looked down at the still beating heart. He plunged his right hand in between the laboring lungs, ripping the heart out. The stench of death immediately followed, growing thicker by the second. Victor ignored the slaughter he'd caused, tracing one of his fingernails along the heart from top to bottom. It burst open, pooring out the last of the blood it contained. _Nothing. Nothing at all. Just... Nothing! You're not special, we are!_

"You are NOTHING!"

His furious roar shattered the silence as he squeezed the heart to a bloody pulp. He ran from the house on all fours, down the main road. And all the while his thoughts kept racing, going back to that same sentence that had haunted him on Three Mile Island: _Why the hell did I do that? Why do I feel so… NO! I don't feel that, I feel great! It felt good to kill him, to tear into his flesh. They deserve it, all of them! Especially… Especially you, Jimmy, oh yes, especially you…_


	4. Defend

**Author's Note:** The mutant children are not using their aliases yet for obvious reasons, so I've used their given names according to Marvel lore. One exception being the character of Jack, who will turn out to be a mutant who has - again, according to Marvel lore - no known human alias. For the sake of the story I've named him and given him a background which I hope will fit the character and his later actions. All other characters will be recognizable either by their described traits/powers or their known human names. If you come across a name that's not familiar to you, chances are it's one of my own characters. And as I stated in a previous chapter, I've searched the internet for confirmed cameos in the Wolverine movie and the children you'll meet in this story are in my opinion the best candidates to go with the appearances/powers you see in the movie. Again, thanks for reading and even reviewing my story! I'm doing the best I can, hehe.

*****

_**Defend**_

After the strange first day at professor Xavier's mansion, everyone started to settle in fairly quickly. Scott and Emma had soon found out that they weren't the first kids to arrive at this place. Thankfully the man named Eric Lehnsherr had brought Scott a red-tinted pair of sunglasses, so he'd been able to go about exploring the mansion, even without Emma. They'd met up with the other children again, sharing their thoughts about what had happened and the place they were in. Both Scott and Emma had taken a liking to the young boy named Sean Cassidy. The three of them were sitting on a stone bench in the enormous backyard when they were approached by Mortimer, Jack and David.

"Oh great, here come the bullies," Sean whispered.

"Hush, Sean, they might hear you," Emma said.

"So what? They know they are, heck, they're even kinda proud of it, I think. They've been bullying some of the others for days now, trying to get them to join their little group. So far they got told off by one of the teachers and when they tried to get Jhimon and Zhao on their side, they got ignored completely!"

"Kid's got a point, Emma," Scott said with a smile, "and I'm guessing they think they'll try to get the weakest first or something like that."

Emma couldn't help but smile back. _God, how I love that smile!_ It made Scott's heart beat faster every time he saw it.

"Hey Summers, Frost, Cassidy," Jack said as his group stopped in front of them.

"Hey Jack," Scott said.

"Soo… whatchya doing?"

"Nothing much. Just hanging around, talking a bit, thinking about our future. How 'bout you?"

"Well, the thing is…"

Jack hesitated. After a moment, Mort jumped in.

"The thing is, four-eyes, we've been wanting to have a word with you ever since we got here. You see, we're the top dogs around here, we rule the school. And we want to make sure you get that, so you won't interfere when we shake down some of the kids here. So you'd better start doing as we tell you or-"

"Whahahaha!"

Sean's outburst caught them all by surprise. The young boy was doubled over, his body shaking with laughter and tears streaming down his face.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Scott, I just can't keep a straight face anymore! I tried, I did, but this… Pfffrrrt, hahahaha! My god, how retarded can you be? No one listens to you, no one! Top dogs… Whahaha!"

Before Scott could stop himself, he was laughing too, just like Emma. The three of them filled the garden with laughter so loud, the other children soon came to see what was going on. Scott saw the anger rising in the three boys, but he couldn't stop. _It's just so funny!_

"Stop that laughing! It's not funny! Stop it now or we'll make you stop!"

Those words immediately pulled Scott out of his funny mood.

"Excuse me, what did you say? I hope I misheard that, Jack. Because if you want to go down that road, you won't like what you find."

"Oh, is that right, four-eyes?" Mort sneered. "Wanna bet?"

"I don't bet, Mortimer. I play for keeps. But before we go down that road, are you sure about this? Do you even know what kind of power any of us has?"

"It can't be that impressive, I haven't seen you do anything in the last couple of days. I know little miss perfect can turn her skin to diamond, but I don't know what you can do. Or Sean for that matter. I really don't give a shit. I'm better than the both of you!"

Without warning Mort's tongue lashed out at Sean, while David used the force of his whirlwind to knock Emma over. Jack took a stand in front of Scott, who could see little flames dancing on the boy's skin.

"Don't do this, Jack, just don't. Walk away and we'll act like nothing happened today."

"Sorry Scott, no can do. We have to finish this, one way or the other."

"So be it."

Before Jack even got a chance to strike Scott with one of his searing flames, Scott lifted his glasses and hit Jack with the full force of his optic blast. This resulted in Jack being slammed into a tree some thirty metres away. Immediately Scott turned his attention to his friends. David was taunting Emma, flinging her through the air every time she got to her feet.

"No use in having a diamond skin if I'm not gonna hit you, is there?"

The whirlwind danced around her, trying to get her off balance. But Scott saw what she was doing. _Go Emma! _She was pretending to be weaker than she was, appearing out of breath. David's overconfidence did the rest as he got too close to the seemingly harmless girl. She lunged at him, pinning his arms to his sides and squeezing for all she was worth.

"Who says it's only for defensive purposes, idiot?"

Every breath David took cost him more effort as Emma's bear hug got tighter and tighter. When she saw he was about to loose consciousness, she let go.

"You're way out of your league, David. Don't ever touch me again!"

They both turned to Sean, only to see the boy had everything under control. _Man, I wish I could fly like that! _Sean was evading Mort's tongue by flying out of reach each time. Even Mort's superjumps couldn't get him within reach of the laughing boy. However, Scott noticed that Mortimer was faking certain bad landings. _He has to be careful, he's a bit too-._ Before Scott could finish that thought, Mortimer's tongue shot out after a faked bad landing and he got hold of Sean's legs.

"Goth you now, boyth!"

"Let go of me, asshole, let go! I'm gonna crash if you don't let go!"

"Who careth?"

"Let go of me, dickheeeAAAAAAAAYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEE!"

The scream that Sean unleashed was beyond deafening. _My ears!_ All around him Scott saw others fall to their knees, clutching their heads. _I have to stop him or he'll hurt everyone! I'll just-_

**Scott, wait!**

At once everyone stopped moving. Both Sean's screaming and the other children's whimpering faded. _What just happened?_

**I used my power to freeze everyone. However, you seem impervious to this part of my power too. You are a mysterious person, Scott.**

_Thanks, I think. What are we gonna do now?_

**Irene and Allister are on their way with medical supplies. She's going to make sure Jack's not too shaken up. Eric is coming with a couple of gurneys. Hank will take care of Sean and Mortimer. How is your hearing?**

"Fine, I think."

_God, I never thought I'd be so glad to hear my own voice!_

**Good. Assist the others wherever you can. I'll start informing the other students there will be a meeting tonight in the atrium. I think it's time we talked about the future of everyone here.**

_Sounds like a good idea to me. We'll talk later… professor._ This time Scott didn't push the powerful telepath from his mind by screaming at him, he just imagined pulling up a wall around his thoughts. _That should cause him considerably less discomfort. I still wonder how I'm able to do that, though. _Hank, Allister, Eric and Irene had arrived while he was talking to Xavier, who released everyone from their frozen state at that moment.

"Scott, come help me with Sean and Mortimer. Eric, I need two gurneys over here!"

The two boys had collapsed as soon as Xavier had released his hold on them. One of Sean's legs lay in an awkward angle. _Damn, that probably happened when he hit the ground after Mort's tongue let go of him._ Most of the other teenagers looked around them with a puzzled look on their faces, confused about the teachers seemingly appearing out of thin air. Scott kneeled down next to Sean, just in time to avoid being hit by two gurneys flying through the air.

"Eric, for god's sake, be more careful where you send those things!"

The blue-furred mutant turned to Scott after this outburst.

"I swear I'm gonna give him a piece of my mind one of these days. However, we have more pressing matters to concern ourselves with. I could carry both of them, but I don't want to take any chances with possible injuries. So, you just help me get both of them on these stretchers. I think Charles might have overdone it a bit when he interfered. You grab his shoulders, I'll grab his legs. I'll make sure his broken leg is supported. Yes, like that. Okay, on the count of three. One, two, three!"

They got Sean on the gurney without too much trouble. Hank made sure the boy was secured before he asked Eric to take him back to the mansion.

"Now, let's see how our other friend is doing. Could you hand me that small case, please?"

While Hank was moving over to Mort, Scott grabbed the case and kneeled down beside Hank.

"It looks like his lower jaw snapped shut when Charles released him. See here, the tooth marks on his tongue? I think Mortimer won't be able to use it for at least a few days. And it might spare certain people his snide remarks, won't it?"

Scott looked up and saw the small wink Hank gave him. _He knows?_

"Don't look so surprised, Scott. You might have some innate ability to block access to your mind, but the others around you don't. And while Charles will never delve into someone's mind without their express permission, he can easily pick up on the strongest thoughts that people radiate. And today the thoughts of Jack and his friends were particularly… radiant."

Hank took the small case from Scott and opened it. With a few swift movements he applied some smelly salve to Mort's tongue before carefully wrapping up the entire thing and putting it into a plastic bag which contained a clear fluid. _Man, that thing's really long and slimy! Where does he keep all of that?_

"I didn't agree with Charles when he said we should give you some time to rest. I was afraid something like this might happen eventually, especially with all those hormones racing through your bodies. Combine that with your surfacing powers and bam! You have a very explosive combination, as you may have noticed."

Hank looked over his shoulder to where Irene was caring for Jack. _I was wondering when someone would bring that up._

"Yeah, I know. But he was asking for it, doctor McCoy! Him and his friends…They only wanted to cause trouble and I just got mad, you know? I shouldn't have, I know, but it's… I feel locked up, I want to DO something! And I… I…"

"… Wanted to know what you could do, right?"

"I… I guess so. I think. Look, I'm sorry for what happened, I shouldn't have let those guys push my buttons and I should have kept Sean in check. This is my fault, it's my fault people got hurt."

"No, it's not! Stop feeling sorry for yourself, Scott Summers, or so help me I'll make you listen to one of my lectures! It wasn't your fault, you aren't their guardian. They have the right the choose what they do as much as you do. So, eh… 'Quit that guilt trip' and all that and help me load Mortimer on this gurney. We'll talk about this later."

As soon as Mort was secured too, Eric transported the boy to the mansion as well. After thanking Scott and assuring him they would talk, Hank turned his attention to the children that weren't being helped yet. Allister was busy tending to various other children who had only been shocked by the events. Eric was guiding everyone who had been looked after back to the mansion. When Scott walked past Jack, he risked a quick glance, but didn't see any obvious wounds. Fire still crackled all over Jack's skin in such a way that Irene had a difficult time helping the boy. The unpleasant smell of burned flesh reached his nose. _I wonder who's flesh is burning: Jack's… Or Irene's?_ Suddenly his stomach acted up and he started to retch. _Oh my god… What have I done?_

"Scott, my boy? Is everything alright?"

The deep voice betrayed it was Eric Lenhsherr standing next to him. He felt a firm hand grab his shoulder.

"Yes, mister Lenhsherr, I'm just… It's the smell. It caught me off guard."

"I see. Well, I'll certainly agree that it's not a nice smell, but it's hardly bad enough to cause someone to almost say goodbye to his breakfast. There are worse smells in the world, my boy, take it from me. Now, are you going to be alright or do I have to help you get inside?"

"N-no, I'm fine, thanks."

"Glad to be of assistance, then."

A few deep breaths helped Scott clear his mind and get rid of the upcoming nausea. _That was harsh… But I needed that. Lenhsherr is very peculiar man. He never gives out compliments and his ideas about ethics are… disturbing sometimes. But he does know what to say to get someone on his feet. I wonder what his deal is?_

"Scott? Scott, where are you?"

Emma came running up to him.

"God, I looked all over for you. Hey, you look a bit pale. Are you alright?"

He gave a her crooked smile, hugged her and whispered: "I swear that the next person who asks that same question gets a mean punch on the nose. So I'm glad you asked me just now."

It made him feel so much better that Emma kept laughing all the way to the house.


	5. Spy

**Author's Note**: A very short installment, returning to Victor's point of view. Short, but necessary. Don't worry, later chapters will give Vic a bigger part in the story again! And a 'thank you' to my kind readers and reviewers. Keep coming back!

*****

_**Spy**_

Darkness had fallen when Victor reached the driveway that gave access to the mansion. The gates were locked, so he simply jumped over them. _No alarms. That's unusually crappy security for a place such as this. If I'm correct about its purpose._ The scents of the unknow mutant and the escaped children got stronger with every step he took towards the house. _It's definitely the right place. And by the looks of it, everyone's awake. It's either that or they don't care about their electric bill._ When he was half-way up the front road, his ears picked up an assortment of voices that came from a large room in the mansion, somewhere to his left. _Interesting. Let's see what I can pick up._

As he approached the house Victor strained all his senses to make sure there weren't any traps, camera's or other security features hidden around the large mansion. The voices grew louder. To his amusement he recognized a few of them. _They sound so different from the last time I saw them. Happy. Self-assured. I wonder how long it will take me to change that once I get my hands on them again?_ He'd reached one of the large windows and took a look inside. _Five adults. I know most of the children except for those three in the back. What are they talking about?_


	6. Discuss

**Author's Note:** Not much to say this time, just that I hope you enjoy this part!

*****

_**Discuss**_

A young mutant sprang up and waved his fist at professor Xavier.

"Professor, it's just stupid that you didn't discipline Summers! Granted, Jack and his idiot friends challenged him, but he could've walked away! How's that for fairness? I mean, Jack got punished for harassing Jhimon and Zhao, even though they ignored him. I mean, look what he did to Jack!"

Silence fell as everyone turned to look at the bandaged boy in the back. Jack looked up with a face that radiated pain. He waved weakly before he averted his eyes. The other children started muttering and Scott heard a few of them agreeing with Pietro's accusations. _No surprises as to who are backing him up. But I didn't do THAT to him! I only knocked him out cold. Irene said this was all due to his own powers acting up._

"Pietro, I understand your frustrations, but if you don't sit down, I'll make you sit down. Understood?"

The boy with superspeed hesitated, then sat down, but not before he glanced in Scott's directions. _I guess that's one potential friend less._

"Alright. I see that in order for me to get this meeting back on track I shall have to address the situation Pietro mentioned. If you will all quiet down, I'll elaborate on what has happened this afternoon."

The muttering ceased. Everyone turned their attention to the professor.

"This afternoon three of you, Jack, David and Mortimer, approached Scott, Emma and Sean with no other intention than to provoke a fight. How the fight was instigated is of minor importance and the people who had anything to do with this, have already had a disciplinary action imposed on them. Does that satisfy you, Pietro?"

The white-haired mutant gave a brief nod.

"Good. The fight itself was short and quite... one-sided. Scott warned Jack on more than one occasion and asked him to just 'walk away' and all would be forgotten. Unfortunately neither Jack nor David nor Mortimer listened to him. Instead they decided to attack Scott and his friends. Scott retaliated with an optic blast, Emma suffocated David and Sean didn't even attack anyone. Until Mortimer got hold of his legs. Even then Sean didn't do anything but plead with Mortimer to let him go. Isn't that right, Mortimer?"

Mort tried to shrink away in his chair as everyone looked at him. Scott felt the change of atmosphere in the atrium as Xavier progressed through the events. _Good. I've had enough of all those people looking at me like I'm some kind of loose cannon_. Emma touched his shoulder and he let his fingers brush hers.

"They'll have forgotten this tomorrow," she whispered, "you'll see."

"Concerning the state Jack is in at this moment I can assure everyone here that it's not a result of Scott's blast. It's unknown natural process that's apparently tied to his specific mutation. Doctors McCoy and Harrisburg have been studying Jack's condition, but haven't found a way to help him yet. We can only hope that he can somehow fight or otherwise accept the changes taking place in his body. But other than trying to ease his pain, there's nothing we can do at this moment. However, let me emphasize this again: Scott has nothing to do with Jack's current condition."

Scott let out a long sigh. _I'm glad that's finally settled. I hope everyone believes the profess- I mean, Xavier_. A firm slap on his shoulder startled him.

"Well, chum, looks like that's cleared up, eh?"

"Sean, for the love of all that's holy, will you quit doing that?" Scott hissed.

Their friend had been released from the medical ward in about an hour after he had been taken in with nothing more than a sore throat and a splitting headache. He'd been asked to visit the professor tomorrow before his parents would arrive to discuss this new ability of his. _It doesn't seem to perturb him at all that he's gained another power. You have to admire his good spirits! I don't know how I would react to hearing I'd gained yet another 'thing' to set me apart from… from normal humans._

"Don't sweat it, no one's watching you anymore. They're all talking amongst themselves. And look who's leaving us again?"

The three friends saw how Allister pushed Jack's wheelchair in the hallway. It was obvious from his hunched appearance that Jack was in a lot of pain. _I really hope he's gonna be okay. I hope they can find something to help him. Everyone keeps assuring me it wasn't my fault, but what if it was? What if my optic blast disrupted some sort of natural process. Or initiated this?_

"Now that we've addressed that issue, it's time for us to consider the future. Your future, to be more precise. I've brought you all here, not just as a temporary safe haven before you are sent home again, but to offer something more. I want to start a school for children such as you, with special powers. Gifts, as I like to call them. You've already met the people who would become your teachers," the professor inclined his head to indicate Irene, Eric and Hank, "that is, if you choose to stay with us. I've contacted all your parents today and most of them will arrive tomorrow. They have to consent to your staying here, of course. When you decide to stay with us, we will provide everything in terms of food, clothing... And training. Yes, we will not only be teaching you the basics that every child gets while in school, but also additional classes on how to use your individual powers. Mutants, as we are called, are becoming more wide-spread by the day and not everyone welcomes us into their midst. So it's crucial for you to not only understand your gifts, but also be able to use them if necessary, in self-defense only. A few of you have already made it known to me that you wish to stay here since you have no other place to go. You will be relocated to your permanent rooms after this meeting closes. In regards to everyone else: Think about it. Sleep on it. Tomorrow most of you will see your parents again. And if you have any questions before then, don't hesitate to ask them. Are there any questions at this time?"

Whoops and cheers went up as professor Xavier's message sank in. _Wow. That would be… good. Then I wouldn't have to go home and face them. I'm just not ready for that. Not yet._

"Oh Scott, isn't that wonderful?" Emma asked.

She gave him a quick hug. When Scott looked at her, she was beaming with joy. _Oh my… She looks even more beautiful now than before._

"How about that? We get to see our parents tomorrow and we can even stay at this place if we want to! And if our parents agree, of course. But man, I'm sure mine won't mind at all! This school is way better than any I would've gone to if I would stay at home. How's that for luck, eh?"

"Yeah, how about that?"

'_Most of you will see your parents tomorrow'… Not me. I wonder if I'll ever talk to them again…_ For the first time since he had to start wearing his sunglasses Scott was glad he was wearing them. That way no one would see how he tried to keep his tears from rolling down his cheeks. This is all just so fucked up! Sean and Emma didn't notice Scott's quiet moment, so when he got himself together again, he joined in their enthusiastic conversation without revealing the depth of his sorrow.

"Professor? Professor, I have a question!"

Slowly the noise subsided as everyone wanted to know who was speaking. Jean Grey, the enigmatic, red-haired teen that had been watching all of them from a distance ever since they arrived, was standing up.

"Yes, Jean? What do you want to ask? I thought you already knew most of what I told today."

"Oh, I do know about that already, professor. And I know my parents are coming here tomorrow. But what I was wondering about, well… Who's that man standing outside the window? I've been receiving little bits and pieces of his thoughts for the last five minutes. Do you know him?"

Hank and Eric were already out of their chairs as soon as Jean uttered her first question. Charles looked at the window and Scott recognized the look on his face. _He's talking to someone telepathically. What's going on here?_


	7. Intrude

**Author's Note:** Not much to say, other than that we return to Victor's view on things. I hope I've made it clear that there's a difference between Victor thinking and 'think-talking' to the professor (read on and see what I mean). And enter a larger role for another key figure who will start to play a bigger part in the story as we progress. Read it and enjoy it!

*****

_**Intrude**_

Victor had been following the meeting, secure in his knowledge that no one knew he was standing outside. _So that 'professor' wants to start a school with mutant teenagers and teach them how to use their powers. I sense a double agenda here. I'm willing to bet he wants to create some sort of team of mutants to fight for him. And from the looks of it, most of these kids will probably stay here too. How can I use this to my advantage?_

He was still thinking about his next course of action, when a skinny, red-headed girl had stood up and had asked about _him!_ _Damn it, she's a telepath!_ He turned to leave, when a voice broke into his thoughts and all his muscles locked up.

**Who are you? What are you doing on my property?**

_Screw this, he's a telepath too! _Out loud he thought: '_Get out the hell out of my head! Get out or I'll swear I'll come in and rip your head from your spine!'_

**And how are you going to do that when I've frozen you in place? Mister… Creed?**

_'Like I'm gonna tell you. Let me go now or I'll kill every one of you!'_

Victor could feel his rage building, burning in his veins. _No one's ever been able to control me, no one! And you think you've got me? You think you're in control? Wait 'till I get my hands on your throat!_

**Do you really think that uttering those kinds of threats will actually make me release you… Victor?**

_'Get… out… of… my… HEAD!'_

Victor roared as he gave in completely to the feral part of his nature, allowing him to effectively shut out the other mutant's control of his body. The shocked look on the professor's face made him grin savagely. _Didn't see that coming, eh?_ He jumped through the large window, shattering the glass. Once inside he locked eyes with his enemy before lunging straight for him on all fours. His urge to kill the balding man was so great that he didn't see the blue-furred mutant coming from his left until he got the wind knocked out of him. _What the-?_ They skidded to a halt just half a metre to the left of the professor, who took his chance and tried to invade Victor's mind again. _Oh, no you don't! _He injected every ounce of his hatred into his next thought_. __**GET... OUT!**_

The telepath's presence faded from his mind entirely, so he could focus on fighting the strong mutant that had him pinned to the ground. When the other leaned in close, Victor head-butted his opponent with all this strength, dazing him for a second or two. That gave him time to free his right arm and he slashed at the other's chest and face. He felt his claws rip through clothes and skin and closed his hand, digging deep into the warm flesh. _See how you like that, furry boy!_

"Rrruaaaaggggh!"

Instead of letting his adversary go, Victor closed his hand, preventing the mutant from disengaging. With his other hand he grabbed hold of one of the muscular legs and started to lift the heavy man, intending to throw head-first into the scared students to create even more mayhem. _That way I can focus on getting my hands on that blasted telepath and pay him back for trying to control me! _Blood ran over his arms and the scent almost drove him into one of his killing frenzies. _Not now! I have to keep it together or I won't escape._ But before Victor could throw the blue-furred mutant, he heard him yell for help.

"Eric! Some help would be deeply appreciated right now!"

Suddenly an iron band snapped shut around his ankles. _What the hell?_ A second one pulled his knees together, causing him to loose almost loose his balance. To keep from falling he had to let go of the mutant, who nimbly freed himself and jumped clear. _Who's doing that? I'm gonna-_ Two more bands pinned his arms to his side and an invisible force lifted him from the ground. His rage slowly left him as Victor realized he had been incapacitated very effectively. _What kind of power is this?_

"Now, now, that's no way for a guest to behave, is it? Especially if he's not invited to the party."

The man that was talking to him had been seated next to the furry mutant that had attacked him. A mocking grin had appeared on his face as he addressed Victor.

"Isn't this much more comfortable, sir? This way we can all have a civilized conversation without any sort of... needless violence to disturb this gathering. I can feel you are testing the strenght of your bonds even as we speak, which doesn't come as a surprise. I would however advise you to cease your foolish efforts at once. If I so much as see you looking at someone in a wrong way, I'll crush you like the insect you are without thinking twice about it."

The look in the man's eyes told Victor this one was dead serious. _He's more dangerous than the rest of them combined. He will kill me if he has too. Hell, I'd do the same. Besides... They've got the upper hand for now. I can't escape these damned things. Best to play along._

"Charles, what do you know about our uninvited guest?"

"His name is Victor Creed. He was involved with what happened at Three Mile Island. In fact, I'm pretty sure most of the children know who either his name or his face. He's the one who kidnapped most, if not all, of them, am I right?"

His lips curled and Victor showed them his fiercest smile. He could hear the children whispering. _Yeah, that's right, you know who I am._

"It seems you have me at a disadvantage. Professor, is it? You know all about me and I know almost nothing about you. Quite a cozy little building you have here. Looks nice and roomy. And you want to make this into a school? Hmm, nice plan. Too bad it probably won't work. I smell too many... differences of opinion floating around."

"Charles, I can silence him if you'd like me to. Just say the word."

"No, Eric, that's not necessary. First things first. Irene, I want you to tend to Hank. Children, I'm have to ask all of you to return to your rooms. Please do not go wandering about the building, I promise we'll discuss what has happened in the morning. Scott, could you, Sean and Emma see to it that everyone does as I ask? Thank you. Eric, follow me to the... medical facility. We have to make sure our... guest is secured for the night."

_Oh, that's too good an opportunity to pass up on!_

"Medical facility? Secured for the night? Sounds an awful lot like someone's got a few secret rooms around here, hm?"

Victor could feel how his words landed in some of the childrens' ears_. That'll get them thinking, hehe._

"Eric, I'll take you up on your offer now. Please silence him."

"My pleasure, Charles."

One of the chairs in front of Victor got stripped of its metal in the blink of an eye. A small strip of metal floated through the air and wrapped itself around his head, silencing him. _He can manipulate metal? No... That doesn't explain how I'm floating. I wonder... _His rage has subsided completely and a strange feeling of curiousness had taken its place. _I'd never have dreamed of a place such as this. A large group of mutants in one place for no other purpose than to... To what?_

"Eric, can you blindfold him too?"

"Of course."

Another thin, metal strip floated to the air towards him. _Idiots. My other senses will tell me everything I need to know about this place. Rest assured that I can find my way out of wherever you're taking me._ Cool metal touched his skin and the world went black.


	8. Think

**Author's Note: **Ah, the Windows synchronize-function... Who doesn't hate it? Well, I officially do, since that particular piece of Windows software somehow managed to overwrite my latest version and replace it with an old version. Suffice to say that 'ARGH!' didn't really cover my reaction when I realized I'd lost a significant amount of text. Sigh. Anyhow... No use in giving up, so I continued writing. This is the result. And I might even add that it's even come out a bit better than the previous version. On with the story! Victor's gonna have a say again in the next part.

*****

_**Think**_

After getting everyone calmed down and settled into their rooms, Scott, Emma and Sean got together in Scott's room. Emma relaxed on his bed, while Sean and Scott took the two seats that stood near it. _We have to talk about what happened tonight and that includes what Xavier told us before that… bastard charged in._ Sean was the first to speak up.

"Well… Who wants to start? I know I've heard and seen some crazy stuff tonight. Especially seen. Man, did you see that asshole charge in? The professor couldn't even control him, he just broke free! Not even Hank was a match for his strength and did you SEE those claws? And his grin? He's truly as bad as they come and that's an understatement if I ever saw one. Were you guys shocked into stupor too? I know I was and that's even before mister Lehnsherr-"

"Alright, alright, we get the point. Settle down, no need to break the world's record in speed-talking! Sheesh, Sean, what did they give you for your headache? You're even more hyper than normal."

Sean's mouth hung open while he visibly tried to organize his thoughts after Scott's interjection. _I hope I didn't break him or something._

"Well... That's... You see... I mean, come on, did you see what I did this afternoon? I'm still, I mean, god! That was awesome! I can scream like a... Like a..."

"Banshee?" Emma suggested.

"No! Banshees are _girls_! I'm not a girl. I'm more like a... A bat or something. Yeah, like a bat! Or maybe like a..."

"Pig? You mean you squeeled like a pig?"

"NO! Aw, come on guys, that's not fair..."

Scott and Emma could hardly hold back their laughter at watching Sean pout and crossing his arms.

Emma put a hand on the boy's shoulder and said, with a smile: "You know we're just teasing you, Sean. Yes, we saw your 'awesome new power'. We even _felt_ it. It hurt my ears pretty bad and if the professor hadn't stopped you, I think we'd all be in the medical ward now with ruptured ear drums. Tomorrow he's gonna talk with you about what happened and you'll tell all us all about it later on. But could we focus on what happened just now? We all know who _HE_ was, don't we?"

The emphasis on the word 'he' made Scott's skin crawl. _Yeah, I certainly know who HE is. Fucking bastard! Coming to my school, hunting me down like... like an animal! God, I wish I'd used my powers on him when I had the chance, so maybe we wouldn't be in this mess right now. On the other hand, I wouldn't have met these two. And would I have ended up here?_ Suddenly it dawned on Scott: _That's what everyone's been trying to tell me! Even bad stuff can make good things happen..._

"Scott? Damn it, Scott, you've been doing this all day! I don't know where your mind goes, but this does NOT make you a good partner in a conversation. Feels kind of one-sided this way. So just what went on in that single cell you call a brain?"

"I'm sorry, Em, it's just that... Ah, never mind, you're right. I have to stop my mind from wandering like this, it's getting a bad habit. Anyway... Yeah, of course we know who that guy was. That shit-for-brains asshole mutant was the one who brought most of us to that hell-hole they called a 'research center'. Hah, research, my ass! It was a damned laboratory where we were experimented on, we were nothing more than labrats! And he... Did you ever get THAT LOOK from him?"

They know what Scott's talking about, he can see it in their eyes. Emma shivers, then shakes her head as if she's trying to shake the memories. Sean just stares into the distance, looking at something only he can see as he answers the question. His voice, which always vibrates with life, sounds dead.

"Sometimes... Sometimes he looked at me like that, yes. Especially when he'd been staying at the compound for a prolonged period of time. He was... prowling. Hunting. Waiting for one of us to make a mistake, screw up, try to resist them when they came to take us away. You weren't there, Scott. Emma was. She knows. She knows what happened to... to..."

Sean swallowed, wet his lips, tried to continue. But his vocal chords refused to utter another sound, so he closed his eyes and stared at the ground. _That's... That's gotta be something really horrible he's trying to tell._ He grabbed Sean's shoulder, gave him what he hoped was a comforting pinch. Emma stood up, walked over to Sean and kneeled before him while taking his hands in hers.

"You can do it, Sean. I'm here. Scott's here. We're your friends and you are in a safe place. We won't let him hurt you. We won't let anyone hurt you. That's all in the past now, you are free. Please, you have to tell it, I only know the aftermath. You saw it. You saw what he did to her... What they let him do. Tell him. He has to know."

"I know," came Sean's tortured reply, "I know. I'll try."

Scott, who'd felt his friend had started to shake before Emma took hold of his hands, now felt him take a few deep breaths. The shaking subsided. Emma let go of Sean's hands and he sat upright before his turning his head to Scott. The hatred that burned in those otherwise friendly eyes unsettled Scott even more than Sean's sorrow had. _What the hell happened? What did he see?_

"Scott, you're my friend. In the few days we've known each other I've really come to value our friendship and I hope I can call you 'friend' for many years to come. But know this: If you ever, EVER, come between me and the revenge I'm gonna enact on that... That fucker downstairs, I swear I'm gonna walk right over you and never look back. Got that?"

"Well, yeah, Sean, I got that. In fact, you didn't even have to say it that way. I'd support you, no matter what. And if you say that bastard deserves to die for something he did, I believe you and I won't hold you back. Hell, I'll even back you up if you need me to. And I think that telling me what he did won't change that sentiment, not ever. But guys... You are freaking me out here! Either tell me what was going on or keep it to yourselves, but make up your minds, okay?"

"I... I'm sorry for throwing it out there, but that's how I feel about that monster. I know I'm not a match for him, not now anyway, but there will come a day when I am. When that day comes, I'm going after him and no one's gonna stop me. Not even the professor or one of the other teachers! They may believe they can convert everyone to their cause, but some... people are beyond redemption. And _Victor Creed_ is one of them."

Sean paused, taking another deep breath and exhaling slowly. Emma patted his knee. He continued.

"Yes, we were labrats. Even less than that, I'd say. They took us from our cages and brought us back, broken just a bit more every time. In the cage opposite mine was a girl. Such a friendly, good-natured spirit she was. Her power was a strange one and not very useful at all in that hellish place. She could make people _happy_. And not happy by giving them a sort of 'high' for a short while, oh no. By touching someone and talking with them, she could make people make the right decision and be happy about it. She spread joy, Scott, all she ever did was spread joy to everyone around her! She didn't discriminate, she didn't judge, she told me she helped everyone who needed it. For god's sake, what in the world would you want to kidnap a girl like that for? To be _happy_ about your decision to cut up mutants 'for the good of mankind'? We ARE mankind, we are humans too!"

Again Sean took a few breaths to calm himself.

"That bastard Stryker hadn't sent Victor on any assignments for two weeks, so he was basically going nuts. He had the other traitors to spar with on occasion, but that wasn't enough. Besides... He beat them every time. It was like he had this knack for getting inside his opponent's mind and then base his strategy accordingly after trading a few punches. How do I know? Well, Victor loves a few things. Annoying the hell out of everyone is the first. Fighting, maiming, killing and spreading fear tie for a second place. Third, he wants to be seen, to show off. To let you know he's the best. He despised the fact that Stryker ordered him to 'keep a low profile'. So... He arranged for an audience when he 'sparred' with someone. It was always two kids. And it depended on Victor's mood if they got so see a fairly 'clean' fight or something else... And that something else always meant someone being brutally murdered. Or rather: butchered."

Slowly but surely a picture began to assemble itself in Scott's mind. A picture of the monster that carried the name Victor Creed. Deep inside him a little voice spoke up. He silenced it quickly, but not before it had spoken one small sentence:_ I'm glad it wasn't me._ His cheeks felt hot with shame for even thinking it once, but that didn't change this one feeling. Emma shot him a glance, nodding once. _She knows what I'm thinking! And... She feels it too. _Luckily Sean didn't pick up on any of this as he continued his story.

"I think you can already see where this is going. We'd all seen at least two of each of these 'fights' when it happened. Serena and I were hauled out of our cages and dragged to the 'audience chamber', a small chamber with two steel chairs and specially designed shackles. I guess they were part of Stryker's anti-mutant war machine too, since the shackles cancelled out certain powers when used. The chamber had one door and one large window, like those one-way windows they use in police stations. And when you were seated in a chair, your head got fixed into one position. You simply HAD to watch. Only Stryker, Victor and about four guards knew of this chamber. No one in Victor's team had a clue. So Serena and I were put in place. I felt so happy when I saw Victor was gonna fight with someone from the team, because he'd never kill him, even though he despised everyone. I remember thinking I would only have to sit through a normal sparring match and then go back to the relative safety of my cage. Serena obviously felt relieved too. We took this time alone to talk some, since talking through the bars of a cage was more a shouting match than a normal conversation. We saw how Victor dispatched of the other guy rather quickly. That's when I realized it hadn't been enough. He'd been couped up for more than two weeks and the fight had been too short, too easy. He turned in our direction... He grinned. My god, how I feared and loathed that grin! I see it in my dreams still... He bared his fangs at us. He extended his claws, which he'd kept short during the fight. Then he leapt towards the windows with uncanny agility. I'd never seen him do that before. I didn't know how much like an animal he actually was."

_I did. I saw how he came after me._

"He took us time walking to the door, all the while looking at us. It was as if he could see through the glass. Maybe he could. I don't know. He purposefully waited outside the door, probably smelling our fear, relishing it. When Serena and I dared to speak again, to reassure each other that he was probably gone, that we were safe, he threw open the door. He... He could have picked either one of us, but he chose _her_. He chose her! A scared little girl who loved nothing more than to play with her sister and sit in the garden and drink tea with her mother and lie in the grass and smell flowers and talk with people and help them be HAPPY! He chose her... And he slaughtered her, right there in front of me!"


	9. Remember

**Author's Note: **Well, that was an unexpected and fairly long hiatus! The last few weeks before I went on vacation were busier than I'd expected and then I was in Austria (like 'poof!'). Anyways, that's not why you're reading this. You're reading this to GET ON WITH THE STORY ALREADY, am I right? Ok then, here goes: We get to delve a bit deeper in Victor's past and get to know some other characters that will feature in the story lateron. Furthermore, you get to see a side of Charles you may or may not have met already. Read on, enjoy and if you want to say something about the story, please do!

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_**Remember**_

Victor didn't see his surroundings, but he could hear and smell everything. All the little scents, the flavours in the air that normal humans or even other mutants never noticed, told him at least as much – if not more – about the house and where he was taken as his eyes would have. _Lots of wood panels, but a lot of concrete too... Reinforcements? Plants, carpet, sweat, perfume... A hallway that's being used a lot, by visitors, I'd wager. Humans._ His captors didn't say anything. _That telepath's probably doing the talking, making sure I don't hear what their plans are. Didn't expect that from that from them. It's what I would've done. Keep me in the dark, boys!_

The metal strip kept him from talking, but it didn't keep Victor from chuckling. His bonds immediately contracted slightly. _Too bad I can't see what they think about that, hehe. Sure as hell can feel it, though._ Around him the density of scents lessened as they took a right turn. _Ah, a part of the house where not everyone's allowed. Only a few of those teenage brats have been here._ A hint of metal floated through the air. His ears registered doors sliding open and they entered a very small room that moved down after the doors closed. _Elevator. Figures. Can't have hidden parts of a house sticking out, can we? Some of those teenagers have been down here very recently. I know these scents... Of course! Toadboy and that scrambler-kid. Heh. I'll never forget the last time I saw that little runt._

*****

"I'm gonna ask you one more time and the answer had better satisfy me. Why can't I hunt him down? Tell me!"

The stench of fear filled his nostrils, but Victor didn't let up. He'd grabbed Stryker and shoved the arrogant man against the wall behind his desk. _I'm sick of you telling me what to do and I HATE this place! I want to hunt someone, I want to HURT someone!_

"I've had enough of your arrogance and enough of being your little errand boy. I'm fed up with your excuses and lies. I want to go after Jimmy NOW!"

He roared that last word and dug the claws of his right hand into Stryker's neck, drawing blood. The scents of sweat, blood and fear almost overwhelmed Victor, who had to restrain himself from just snapping his boss' neck. Victor saw that William clearly didn't have a clue about why his prized pet mutant would suddenly lash out like this after all those years of seemingly faithful obedience. _My vocabulary has never contained the word obedience, you snivelling piece of dirt. You never kept tabs on me, because you trusted me implicitly. You thought you got me on a leash with your promises... And I always got the job done, after all. I'm the best at what I do! I'm better than he'll ever be! But you never knew about the... Extra work I put in. You never asked. Not after you stopped supplying my needs and I convinced you I got a hold on myself. Heh. Humans. So easy to trick._

Stryker had stopped squirming. To Victor that probably meant that the man realized his movements would only further agitate him in his current state of mind. _And damned right he is!_ Instead, he tried to gather what courage he possessed to answer Victor's question.

"Vic-Victor, you're... strangling me. P-please ease up... a bit, so I can... a-answer your question."

Instead of loosening his grip, Victor leaned forward and looked Stryker straight in the eyes.

"Why don't you make me?" he growled.

William's eyes widened as he finally understood the precarious position he was in. _I don't know whether to hope for another evasive response or a straight answer. Both'll get me what I want. But only the latter let's you walk away from this._

"I can't l-let you go after him, Victor... Not yet. We need to do... more tests to make sure... you can survive... the process. I wouldn't want... to lose you. And you're no match... for him now, you know that."

"Do I? I don't know anything, Stryker! You've kept me in the dark about his whereabouts and his reactions to the adamantium, so I don't know shit about him! Give me a chance and I'll prove who's the better soldier. I'll make him regret the day he turned his back on us. I am better than he is!"

Immediately after saying that, Victor dropped Stryker to the ground. _Damn! I shouldn't have said that! How am I going to take that back_? One look at Stryker told him he'd never be able to take it back. William was already busy incorporating this piece of information into his master plan, judging by the smile that slowly appeared on his face and the way his fear dissapated by the second. _DAMN IT!_ Victor turned around and headed for the door, all the while fearing Stryker would speak up. When he reached the door he turned around and saw his boss standing behind his desk, blood dripping from the superficial wounds he'd inflicted.

"This is not over yet, Stryker," he sneered, "and you'd better keep this to your damned self. If you don't, no amount of reasoning or cajoling or mutant soldiers is gonna stop me from tearing you limb from limb."

Stryker didn't say a word and smiled his infuriating smile, so Victor slammed the door as he left. _Why didn't I keep my mouth shut? Why? _His anger still boiled within in, asking for a release. He knew the mutants that were being kept in the cages right now were off-limits. _Am I going to let that stop me? Me? I'll show that asshole he can't mess with me any better than I can mess with him. Besides, it's been a while since I sparred with someone here._ This idea improved his mood. _Now who am I gonna get to fight me?_ He remembered looking at the roster and sighed. _Oh, for the love of... None of them poses any kind of worthy challenge. I'd never thought I'd say this, but I really miss the 'old gang'. Would've loved to fight Wade, now that would have been a good fight! Even with that big mouth of his. But these men... They're soft. No guts, nothing that sets them apart from normal humans. Only their powers. _Victor rounded the last corner to the prison area. _Then again... I've never fought the new guy before, what's his name again? Orville? Didn't he have a huge scythe or something medieval like it? Could be fun. Let's try him then. But first... A visit to the kids._

As he entered the prison area, everyone – Keepers and prisoners alike – looked up. Most Keepers flinched when they saw who came in. Some of them averted their eyes. Two tried to unsuccesfully to copy Victor's savage grin. He smiled back, lifting his lips to show his fangs, after which the two Keepers turned away as well. _Fools. So easy to intimidate. Why Stryker puts up with human crap like that I'll never know._ Most of the cages consisted of a new metal alloy created by the facility's scientists. Some of them were specifically created for their inhabitants. All of them were in use. _Now... Who's up for the VIP-treatment?_ Two mutants caught his eye. _Ah. The scrambler-kid and the little princess. _

Victor had never understood why Stryker had brought in the girl. Her power was the most useless he'd ever encountered. _She makes people HAPPY. What kind of stupid-ass shitty power is that?_ The scrambler-kid was slightly more useful. _At least he can mess up all sorts of scanning equipment, even analyze vibrations. I wonder what he can do if Stryker's through with him. Although I think that runt is gonna be a one tough nut to crack._ He flexed his fingers a few times. _Maybe I should give it a shot today?_

"Two and four, get me the scrambler and the happy maker. Take them to the... interrogation room."

"Yes sir, captain Creed!"

_Now that's something I never get tired of hearing!_ Content with his plans he followed the two Keepers after they'd taken the boy and girl from their cages. Neither mutant had a power that was capable of inflicting physical harm, so normal cuffs were enough to keep them in check. The feelings of relief and guilt that emanated from the other children were almost tangible. It made Victor's smile even more ferocious. _It's all too easy to make them feel secure. So naieve they are! They should know by now that I always come back. _The small group entered a corridor that was hardly ever used, since no one either knew or didn't care what was down there. Stryker had arranged the room at the end to be at Victor's disposal to satisfy certain needs the feral mutant craved now and again. An added bonus for Stryker was that he could use that room to experiment with ways of temporarily shutting down mutant powers by various means.

Victor thumbed the fingerprint scanner. Invisible locks twisted and turned with audible clanking and whizzing sounds. Lights sprang on as soon as the sensors registered movement. Two very uncomfortable looking chairs stood waiting for new visitors in the harsh light. Both children started squirming, but the Keepers tightened their grips and pushed them in. Victor followed, shutting the door behind him. Outside the Keepers took up positions on either side of the door.

"Now listen very carefully," he said as he squatted down in front of the terrified children, meeting their gazes, "because I hate to have to repeat myself. I'm going to take those cuffs off and put you in one of those chairs. If you so much as twitch in a way I don't like, I'll rip your arm off. And then put you in the chair. If you do as I say, you are probably gonna leave here in one piece. Are we perfectly clear on this?"

The children nodded obediently. _I love this part. They never listen. Which one of them will try to escape? Or better yet, hurt me? I'm placing my bet on the runt, hehe_. He turned his attention to the girl, whose face had turned an almost translucent shade of white when she was taken from the relative safety of her cage.

"Let's start with you. Hold out your arms so I can take those cuffs off."

Her scrawny arms shook as she lifted them. Victor stood up, took hold of her cuffs with his right hand and squeezed the chain until it broke. The girl's eyes widened considerably when she saw this feat of strength and she looked about ready to scream her head off. _Good. No trouble from you then._ He placed his hand on her shoulder to lead her to the farthest chair. Without warning the girl raised her hand and grabbed his.

"P-please, m-mister Creed, p-please tell m-me why you act so m-mean!"

An overwhelming urge to comply filled every fibre of his being. The compulsion to sit down and spill his guts was overwhelming. His own voice reverberated through his mind.

'_Do it. Free yourself. Tell her everything. Be happy! Be content again for the first time since Jimmy walked out on you!'_

_NO!_ The name of his half-brother broke the spell. _Wrong name to use, girl!_ Victor drove his claws into the girl's shoulder, causing her to shriek in pain.

"That'll teach you to try and mess with me, little happy maker. I don't know what you do or how you do it, but you chose the wrong approach. I'll NEVER forgive Jimmy for leaving me! And I'm perfectly alright with the way I am. So stop trying to use your shitty powers, quit your snivelling and SIT DOWN! If I hear so much as a sigh from you while I'm in this room, I'll gut you and make you eat your own intestines!"

_Stupid, stupid! I'd never have guessed she'd try something like... Like this!_ He yanked her towards the chair, shredding parts of her skin as he did. The boy still hadn't moved, but Victor kept his eyes on him, waiting for him to try something. _They both surprised me and that never happens. Only... Only Jimmy could surprise me... _He grimaced and forced that thought back down, burying it deep inside him. His hands had instinctively closed the restraints, forcing the girl to sit upright and face the one-way window. Behind him he heard the other kid make a run for the closed door. _Now that's more like it! At least my instincts were right about him._ In one fluid motion Victor turned, leapt and landed inches behind the boy.

"And where would you be going, little piggy?" he asked, his voice barely rising above a whisper.

A little squeel escaped the boy's lips, but that didn't stop him from pounding the reinforced door. Victor revelled in the scent that filled the room_. A perfect mixture of fear, insecurity and outright defiance. With a little... urine mixed in? Oh, this keeps getting better and better!_ The boy still faced the door as he unclenched his fists. His small fingers caressed the door, not wanting to admit defeat. Please, his hands seemed to say, please let me through. The small puddle that had formed at the boy's bare feet had already cooled and Victor could see goosebumps appear on the kid's arms. The scene sent a shiver down his spine. It reminded him of another time that he really didn't want to remember. _That's enough!_

"Turn around," he said, his smile fading rapidly.

He got no response. _Oh, for fuck's sake..._

"Listen... Kid, I won't repeat myself. You can either turn around and walk to that chair yourself or I'll help you along. And you really don't want me to help you, got it?"

This time Victor got a response. The boy lowered his hands, letting his fingers slide along the door slowly. When they were half way down, the kid used them to give himself extra momentum as he turned around, at the same time using his right foot to scoop up as much of his urine as he could. Quite a few droplets hit Victor's clothing before he reacted. _Where the hell did that come from?_ He looked at the boy, curling his lips, ready to pound that kid into the ground. Then he saw the look of absolute triumph and hate in those young eyes. For the third time in one day he got reminded of another young boy, a boy he'd known decades ago. _NO! What the fuck is going on today? I can't use this... I don't want to remember! I don't need to remember!_ The boy showed Victor a feral smile and gave him the finger. Even as Victor grabbed the boy and forced him in his chair, bruising him severely and wounding him with his claws, the big mutant couldn't help but think about the display of defiant courage he'd just seen. _This one... He deserves better. He looks... He reminds me of me. Of us._

*****

Victor got jerked back to the present when the downward motion stopped. He felt they were on the move again. The smell of metal in this new are was overwhelming. _That's got to be one hell of a secret area they have here. Not at all what I expected to find._ His sensitive hearing didn't pick up any sounds other than those of his captors' movements and their breathing. _No thrumming machinery. No talking people. Nothing. Where the fuck have I ended up? What IS this place?_

They rounded a corner. Only a whisp of air betrayed that a door had opened in front of him, after which the small group stepped inside. A new scent hit Victor's nose head-on. _Medicines! So this is their medical facility. I wonder what these so-called do-gooders are gonna do to me. Should be interesting to see what they keep hidden from their precious children._ The professor and the man called Eric moved about while opening cabinets and laying out objects on a hard surface to Victor's left. _An operating table perhaps? _Without warning he got tilted over so he floated in a horizontal position. _Are they going to operate on me? They'll be in for a real surprise when they do! I just have to wait for them to make the classic mistake of thinking I'm sedated so I can go savage on their asses!_

"Eric, remove the bands from his face."

Bright light hit Victor's light-deprived eyes, but he didn't wince. He quickly took in his surroundings to plot escape routes and identify possible weapons. Eric was standing to his left, the professor looked down on him from the top of his head. _So that's the game we're gonna play?_

"Ah, so now you're talking again? Trying to scare me, I presume? Make me watch while you experiment on me? Or torture me? That doesn't sound morally right to me, professor. Are you sure you want to go down this road?"

A barely audible snort made Victor look at Eric. The powerful mutant gave him a derisive look.

"What makes you think we'd be so uncivilised as to extend you the courtesies you'd gladly extend on us if the roles were reversed? I'd be glad to oblige, of course, but my dear friend Charles has other plans for you. No, instead of giving you what you expect, which I think would be more than fitting to repay you for the atrocities you committed on those children, Charles wants to give you something you'd never have expected: mercy. And maybe, just maybe, something else. But I'll leave it all to Charles to explain that."

Eric's speech left Victor slighty confused. Apparently these mutants knew about his past and what he'd done to the children. _Probably pried it out of those snivelling pieces of crap as soon as they'd gotten them here. See if I care that you know who I am and what I did. 'Cause I don't!_ He looked the professor straight in the eyes as he spoke up.

"I don't give a shit if you know what I did to them. What WE did to them. Don't think for a second that I was the only one who used those freaks. It's Stryker you want! He's the big shot, the head of the operation. He's the weak little fucker that told us where to go and who to get. He chose which ones were gonna be used. I had nothing to do with that. I just... enjoyed myself from time to time."

The malicious smile that Victor gave them as he said that almost was his undoing. The bands that were holding tightened immediately, squeezing harder and harder. Damn, that HURTS! He could feel his muscles being bruised, his breath being forced from his lungs. His ribs started to protest against the strain. Just as he started to feel bones cracking under the pressure, the bands released their death grip.

"I hope you know what you're doing, Charles," Eric said.

Victor heard the barely contained anger in the man's voice. Before Eric turned away, Victor caught sight of his face. The rage that he saw there, reminded him of a face he knew intimately. It reminded him of himself.

"If you would focus your attention on me, mister Creed, I will explain what I'm going to do. I have saved your sorry ass from being crushed like a bug by my friend. Not out of sympathy, but because you are an essential part of my plan to not only find William Stryker, but take him out of the equasion. By any means necessary. To that end I have to gather as much inside knowledge about his operations as possible. You are the closest thing we have to a lead, so I'm thankful that you literally dropped into our lap, although it wasn't the entrance I planned for. I'm gonna use your mind to give me that knowledge. But, since it's already late, I will keep you here for the night without doing anything yet. To ensure your continued presence at the mansion I'm afraid I'm going to have to use my neural inhibitor already. I would have preferred to wait until I had no other choice after trying to persuade you help us willingly, but the events of this evening have left me with little options. So, Eric, if you please?"

During the professor's explanation Victor had gotten the distinct feeling that for the first time since Jimmy's desertion he had absolutely no control over a given situation. It wasn't a feeling he was accustomed to and he sure as hell didn't like it at all.

"What the hell are you talking about? What's a neural inhibitor?"

A strange device, shaped like a fat, black Y floated in front of his eyes, only to be snatched from the air by the professor. It was curved to fit around a head, with two points contacting the temples and the third point resting on the back of the head. A feeling of dread started to rise in Victor's gut and he tried to squirm out of his restraints. It was like trying to get out of a block of solid granite.

"The neural inhibitor is a recent invention of ours. It allows me to enter someone's mind completely without damaging that person. Furthermore, it can speed up or slow down thought processes. That way we can keep people detained for quite some time without fear of them escaping or someone looking for them. You see, I can either slow or speed up your perception of time significantly. For instance, while in real time a day will have gone by, it will feel like an hour has passed for you. Furthermore, I can quickly sift through memories to find the information I'm looking for. And while you wear the inhibitor, you won't even know someone is, for lack of a better word, 'messing' with your mind."

The feeling of dread changed as Victor realized what the inhibitor could do, what they were gonna do to him. For the first time ever in his long life Victor felt real, full-blown fear. _NO!_

"You can't do that!" he yelled. "That's immoral! You are the good guys, for fuck's sake. You can't do that to me! You can't!"

All the while, as Victor yelled those things, he tried to lock away a certain batch of memories in the deepest recesses of his mind. The professor lowered the neural inhibitor onto Victor's head. He felt the two points touching his temples and he roared. His whole body spasmed as fear took hold of him. His restraints started to buckle. _They can't do this to me! Not to ME! I'm Victor Creed! They can't... They can't know! I'll rip them apart if they try to do this. I'll kill them ten times over! I just have to break free! I have to-_ The third point touched the back of his head. For the second time this day the world went black.


	10. Foresee

**Author's Note:** Thank you all for waiting so patiently for the next installment. After the last part I wasn't sure how I wanted to continue the story with Scott. I have already written a whole part from Victor's point of view already, but Scott's part posed a bit of a problem. After writing and re-writing it, I threw everything away and started over. This is the result, which turned out much better than I had anticipated and gives more insight in Scott, Jean and the possible paths this story will take. I hope you enjoy it and stay tuned for the next part!

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_**Foresee**_

Scott let the scalding hot water wash over him, hoping in vain that it would wash away everything Sean had told him. _I feel dirty. Unclean._ He rubbed his arms, felt the goosebumps that had sprung up again_. It makes me feel sick just to think about it. How could someone be that inhuman? They call us all freaks. They call mutants that don't look human anymore monsters. But do they even know that the most terrible monsters are those you don't recognize? Who's the bigger monster: Stryker or me? Who's the freak in a freakshow of human-looking predators?_

Again he rubbed himself_. I can't stand in the shower all night. Might as well do some cleaning now that I'm here._ His fingers traced the wall until they found the plastic shelf with his shampoo and body wash on it. With his eyes closed, never even taking the slightest peek, he washed himself. And like every other time in the shower since his 'gift' manifested itself, Scott cursed it for making him incapable of looking upon anything ever again without severly damaging it_. Sure, I could take a shower with my glasses on... But the feel of my hands on my face, feeling it without those damned glasses obstructing it..._ A deep sigh escaped his lips as he ran his hands over his face. _It feels so liberating, so normal. I almost feel human again. _

He took another few minutes to clear his mind as much as possible. Suddenly Emma's face appeared before him, her lovely smile sending exciting shivers down his spine. _Can I be this lucky? Could a beautiful girl such as her really like me?_ Even now he still had trouble wrapping his head around everything that had happened to him from that moment at breakfast, when his mom had asked him what was wrong. _Mom... Dad... I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry..._

"I'm so sorry, mom, I didn't mean to... Dad, please forgive me, please, I'm so sorry..."

Again tears came, obscured by the stream of water from the shower. _I don't know how much longer I can avoid thinking about it, or talking about it. But not now, please, not now! I can't deal with this now, not yet._ Slowly he felt himself regaining control of his memories, storing away the ones that wanted to be relived for another day. _Pff. I might as well get out now, mood's gone anyway._ With the grace of a bull in a chinashop Scott stumbled out of the small shower cabinet and eventually found his towel. A few quick rubs dried his face so he could put on his sunglasses again. _Ah, that's so much better!_

After regaining his sight Scott finished drying the rest of his body. He brushed his teeth and put on his shorts and T-shirt just before unlocking the door. The next second he found himself holding a red-haired girl that had fallen straight into him.

"Whoa, watch it! It's not polite to fall on someone who's just showered."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I was just looking for an empty bathroom. The ones on my floor are all taken and I just wanted to have a place to... to..."

Suddenly the girl seemed to realize where she was and who she was talking to. Scott felt her tense up and saw her avert her eyes. _Such amazing eyes... _He shook his head._ What was her name again? Was it... Jean?_

"Eh, Jean, is it? Well, if you give me a few more moments I'm out of here and you can have the bathroom to yourself. I was just finishing up and getting ready for some sleep."

"Oh, eh, okay. If you're sure about that..."

Scott opened his arms so Jean could take a step back. His head was spinning. He felt... _connected_ to this girl. _What's going on?_ Before he was able to ask or do anything, Jean looked at him. Her eyes started to glow. They grew until they filled his entire vision. Blue light surrounded him and time slowed down until it almost stopped. _What... What are you doing? What's happening? Jean? Are you doing this?_

_**Scott? Scott, I don't know... I've never seen this before. I don't know... Am I doing this? I didn't even know... I can't stop it, Scott, I can't? I... can't... stop... it...**_

Her voice faded away as the light brightened. _Jean? Jean! Stop it! Stop what you're doing, the light... It's hurting my eyes! It's... It's burning! IT'S BURNING RIGHT THROUGH ME!_

**Scott? Scott, what's happening? Answer me! Where are you? Stay calm, I'll send Eric to get you...**

*****

"Scott? Scott, for god's sake, wake up! Wake up, one-eyes, or I'll swear I'll kick you in the nuts and carry you out of here if you don't WAKE UP!"

"Wha-?"

The sound of explosions fill his ears. Looming over him is a rough-looking man with sideburns and an unlit cigar in his mouth.

"Hey bub, you had everyone scared for a moment. Jubilee was sure that last blast of hers got you good. What in the hell were you thinking, jumping in front of it like that? Kid's been crying her eyes out feeling sorry for herself for the last two hours! If you ever pull a stunt like that again, I'll make sure you won't wake up from it personally."

Scott hears a barely audible *snikt* as if someone's unsheething a weapon. The next thing he knows he feels three sharp knives under his chin. _What the-?_ He feels his mouth forming words without him thinking them first.

"Can it, Logan. After all these years you should know I'm not in the least bit impressed by your bravado. So put your claws away and let's get out of here. I'm guessing the Sentinels will find us soon. Any word from the other squads?"

The 'claws' disappear and Logan extends his hand. Scott's body moves, again without him ordering it to.

"Heh. Just messin' with ya, Scott. Now let's get out of here!"

"Run! RUN! They're coming, they're coming!"

_Where am I? What's happening? Stop moving! Stop it!_ His body runs on as he followed the man named Logan. Behind him voices are screaming in fear. He hears the sound of creaking metal and falling stone. _Jean! Professor! Get me out of here!_

"Oh my god, they're here!"

"Run, you fools, RUN!"

"Watch out, they're coming..."

*****

_Jean! Professor! Get me out of here!_

**Scott, Eric's on his way. Stay where you are, hulp's coming... Is Jean with you?**

_**Scott, I can't stop it! I can't stop it... I can't... stop it...**_

*****

"Do you, Scott Summers, take this lovely woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

"I do."

_What? Who am I marrying? Take away her veil. RIP IT OFF!_ Again his body doesn't obey.

"And do you, Emma Frost, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

_EMMA!?_

"I do."

"Then I pronounce you husband and wife. Congratulations, mister and missus Summers. You may now kiss each other."

Finally his body raises his hands and he lifts the veil. There she is, older, but even more beautiful than the Emma he has just gotten to know. _And I'm marrying her? Oh my god..._

Slowly, ever so slowly, he leans in to kiss her...

*****

**Jean? Jean, what have you done? What have you done to Scott?**

_**I didn't do anything, professor! It wasn't my fault, I didn't do it! But I don't know how to stop it. Just don't... Don't touch me, please... Don't touch me! I don't know what'll happen if you touch me... Don't TOUCH ME!**_

**Jean, don't! Stop that! Stop resisting me! Scott? Scott, are you there? Scott, can you hear me? Scott? Scott...**

*****

She stands before him. Her vibrant red hair dances in the winds that she controls. In her eyes shines an inner fire Scott has never seen before. The mouth that isn't his already forms the question he wants to ask.

"Jean?"

His voice startles her, but only for a second.

"Scott?"

Just like with Emma this Jean is older than the young girl he held in his arms moments before in Xavier's mansion. _But where is this? Or rather... WHEN is this? And why can't I shake this feeling... This feeling... Something's gonna happen. Something... awful..._ None of these questions are asked. Instead, his older self says: "How?"

For a short moment Jean looks away, unsure of what to say. It even seems to Scott that she's as confused about where they are as he is.

"I don't know..."

Around them stones, leaves, twigs, dirt and even droplets of water float in the air. Scott feels the enormous power that emanates from the woman before him and he remembers a conversation he hasn't taken part in yet.

"_Jean is probably one of the most powerful mutants on this planet, Scott. That's... That's why I fear for her, more than for anyone else."_

"_More powerful than you, professor? That's not possible, is it?"_

"_Scott, when I compare my powers to yours, you are, in some ways, stronger than me. I have come across many mutants over the years, some of them more skilled than me, others with powers I that rivalled my own. And some were simply more powerful than me. But none of them have given me as much concern as Jean. Scott... When Eric and I found her all those years ago, not long before our differences started to drive us apart, she could already do more with her gifts than any adult mutant has ever could. And she was only a teenager! Her mutation is seated in her unconsciousness, which ties her powers to her emotions. She was afraid to feel anything, afraid of what she might do. When we arrived at the mansion I separated part her powers from her unconscious mind with her consent. After that, she retained control of her powers under any circumstance. We've been working on gradually taking down those barriers ever since, trying to integrate her two personalities again, but it has been arduous and slow work that cost us both a lot of energy and willpower. If somehow that other side of her takes over, if for whatever reason she would lose control of that part of her without me to guide her... All the world would tremble, Scott. And no one would be able to stop her, probably not even me."_

"_What... Why are you telling me this, professor? Why this? Why now?"_

"_Because... Because she asked me to, Scott. She wanted me to tell you."_

In that instant of clarity Scott feels fear wash over him. The Jean before him isn't the Jean he knows. Or had known for years. _But I didn't live those years yet! Why do I know this? Why do I see this? What good will it do if I can't change any of it?_ Inches away stands a creature with powers unlike any human before her. The full force of Xavier's words hits home. _She can do whatever she wants and no one can stop her. Not even the professor... Not even me. _Scott doesn't know if he's thinking this or if it's coming from his other self. All he knows is that he must embrace her, must hold her, for however short a moment. So he does. The other Scott and he are now reacting as one. After a seemingly infinite moment Jean steps back. She looks at him.

"I want to see your eyes."

_What?_ He tries to pull loose, but she doesn't let go. Instead, she lifts her hands.

"Take these off."

_NO!_ Scott stops her, afraid of what might happen if he lets her do this.

"No," he says, his voice soft and unsure.

She smiles.

"Trust me. I can control it now."

He closes his eyes and feels how she takes off his glasses.

"Open them," she says, ever so softly, "you can't hurt me."

Inch by inch he lifts his eyelids, his body tense, waiting for the moment that the full force of his optic blast will hit Jean. Nothing happens. His power burns behind his eyes, but it's contained, unable to get out, to harm anyone. For the first time since his puberty he can see colors again, look at someone without the all-too familiar pink hue from his glasses. _Oh my god... It's so beautiful!_ Tears begin to form in his eyes. The next moment Jean and he kiss passionately. _I love her... I love her! I don't ever want to lose her again!_

You won't, he hears her say to him in his mind. You won't lose me. You'll be with me. Forever.

_Jean? Jean, what are you doing... Jean! Stop it!_

His mouth burns, his skin crawls. Excruciating pains shoot through his body as he feels how his life is taken from him by the creature he thought was the woman he once loved. _Jean, why are you doing this? Jean... Jean, NO!_

*****

"Hank, is Scott okay? Do you have any idea what happened here?"

"I may have, but that's a matter we can discuss later on. Now, please, step back and let me do my job."

Scott recognized the voices of Xavier and Hank McCoy. In the background he heard how Irene tried to console a sobbing Jean. _What was that all about? Did I... Did I see the future?_

**Scott? Scott! Thank god you're alright, you had us worried when you didn't answer me. I came here as** **fast as I could. How do you feel?**

_Like someone used my mind as a punching bag. Professor... What the hell happened? What did I see?_

**I don't know, Scott. Not yet, anyway. But first things first. Hank will get you to our infirmary so we can get you checked out. Don't worry about Jean. Irene will see to her.**

_Thanks... Thanks for everything._

"Scott, if you can hear me, I'm gonna inject you with a mild sedative to relax you. Allister and I will then take you to the infirmary where we'll check you over. We'll talk after you've had a good night's sleep."

"Wait, doctor McCoy, I want to... want to... say... some... thing..."

**Sleep well, Scott. We'll talk soon.**


	11. Doubt

**Author's Note: **This chapter came along quicker than I anticipated, even though I have re-written entire sections of it more than twice. There are still some parts that I'm not entirely happy with, so if you come across something that you think is 'off', especially where it concerns Victor and how he thinks about or reacts to things, please let me know! The next chapter is already coming along nicely, so I hope I can add another part soon. For now... Enjoy this part!

* * *

_**Doubt**_

Victor blinked a few times. _What the-?_ Bright lights illuminated his surroundings. _Where the hell am I?_

"Are you ready, captain?"

_Captain? Who... Reaper?_ He breathed in through his nose, identifying the smells that entered it. _Three Mile Island? What the fuck's going on here?_ Even though Victor couldn't put his finger on it, he knew something was wrong. _I remember... A building? Strange mutants? Why is it all so hazy? My head hurts just trying to remember..._

"Captain? Captain Creed? Sir, are you ready to begin?"

Without warning memories flooded back into his brain. Garett Orville, the latest addition to the team, had accepted Victor's invitation to a sparring match. Victor's uneasiness about his whereabouts faded away completely. He knew where he was and what he had been planning to do. _I'll grind that little shit into the ground before he knows what hits him. Thinks he's a tough guy because of those cybernetic limbs and that stupid-ass scythe of his. Heh. I'll enjoy showing him just how much he's worth. And after that..._ He turned his head to look at the hidden window that concealed the 'viewing room'. _I hope they enjoy the show._ He bared his fangs in a cruel smile when he looked at Orville.

"Oh, I'm ready alright. Just show me the best you got, soldier."

As his opponent charged him Victor tensed his muscles and extended his claws to their full length. _Let's see what you're worth!_

* * *

After almost ten minutes of sparring, in which Victor gave Orville numerous chances of striking him, the young soldier finally landed a hit on Victor's arm with his scythe.

"Yes!" Orville cried out, clearly convinced he would be the first one to defeat the captain.

Victor felt the other mutant's neurotoxins enter his bloodstream, attacking his muscles, paralyzing them as they seeped deeper into his cells. _If he thinks that's gonna stop me, he's even more stupid than I thought. And I had such high hopes..._ He grinned as he maintained a crouched position, lulling Orville into a false sense of victory by making him think that the toxins had disabled his opponent. Victor's exceptional healing factor had already initiated a counter-attack, flushing out the toxins before they even reached his shoulder. Instead of Victor's muscles being paralyzed, they were tensed up, ready to pounce on the oblivious Orville.

"Ha! Didn't see that coming, did you, captain? How'd you like that, hm?"

Victor's feint worked. With his scythe raised Orville had moved closer, keeping his cybernetic left arm and leg between him and Victor at all times. _Just a little bit more, reaperboy. Keep on coming._ Slowly Orville reached for Victor with his cybernetic hand to prod him, to make sure that his superior was indeed effectively paralyzed. When Orville was about an inch away, Victor leaped into action. He grabbed Orville's hand while standing up, pulled him over his shoulder with a turning motion and threw the overconfident soldier against the ground. The scythe clattered on the floor next to him.

"That was absolutely pathetic, _soldier_," Victor remarked as he took hold of Orville's hands and pulled them behind the defeated man's back with more force than necessary.

Orville made soft squealing sounds, which made Victor push his knee into the downed man's spine. _This is fucking ridiculous. He squeals like a pig! _Anger started to grow deep within him, followed closely by an all-too familiar other feeling... Victor looked down at Orville. _He's a worthless piece of shit... Would anyone really miss him?_ His claws, that he had retracted moments before, began growing again. That would server Stryker right for denying me... The desire to draw blood, to maim someone, became almost unbearable. _Just to rip through his flesh, taste his blood, revel in his FEAR!_

"Captain... Sir... Please, you're really hurting me. Could you... Let me... Stand up? Sir?"

The words cut through Victor's oncoming bloodlust. No, no, I can't! Stryker would... I need this place, I need this job. I'll just... Again he looked at the hidden window. _But I have needs too._ It took him a great deal of self-restraint to let go of Orville, but he managed to stand up. He retracted his claws again. The young man struggled to get to his feet.

"Well, _soldier_, let me lay it on you in terms you understand. You wouldn't last more than two minutes in a real fight. What the fuck were you doing? Waiting for an invitation to hit me? I've given you plenty of chances and it took you more than ten minutes to even _hit_ me! It's not a dance contest, try to HIT your enemy. You don't GET invitations, you TAKE whatever chance you get to take someone down, 'cause you sure as hell won't get a second chance, arrogant piece of shit! You're an even worse pushover than that wussy Washout. At least HE tried to fight me. But you... I could've gutted you more than a dozen times without you ever realizing what had happened. Stryker must really be losing his touch. I'm surrounded by a bunch of fucking women!"

_And thanks to stupid-ass fucking retards like you I haven't had a decent fight since... Since..._ His brother's face appeared in his mind. _Since you turned your back on me, little brother. I never thought I'd say this, but I... I want to beat up that ugly face of yours and listen to you whine about how you actually hated the jobs we had to do. Dammit, why did you have to leave? Why did you let those fucked up ideals of yours get in our way? We're the same, Jimmy. We're brothers. No one understands you like I do. No one knows about the beast inside. Why didn't you accept it? WHY DID YOU WALK AWAY FROM ME?_

This time no amount of self-control could stop the bloodlust rising in him. Victor felt how he was already giving in, revelling in the bestial rage that started to consume him. _Aahh... It feels so GOOD to let go, to become ME again! _He held out his arms and roared.

"I suggest you get out of here, soldier, while you're still in one piece," he snapped at Orville, who looked at him with a look of naked fear.

"S-sir, yes sir, I'll get out of here, right away, sir. Thank you, sir, for... For letting me.. For letting me spar with you!"

Orville grabbed his scythe and scrambled to get out of the large room as fast as he could. Victor didn't wait for him to leave. Instead, he gazed at the window and grinned his feral smile. He put all his power into a giant leap that landed him right in front of the two mutant children. In his imagination their fear was almost tangible as he lifted one hand and ever so slowly let his claws grow again. _See you in a minute._

As fast as he could he ran towards the door only Victor had access to and entered the hallway to the small room. His senses told him the two children were whispering to each other, assuring each other it would be alright. The girl was crying softly, while the boy kept saying she shouldn't be scared. _Oh, this is good. I'll just wait a bit longer to ease their tension. All the more fun for me when I come in. _Their voices grew louder as time passed. Victor smelled how their fear lessened. The boy's voice grew more confident by the minute and the girl gradually stopped crying. The air carried only the faintest trace of fear... And that's when Victor decided to enter. The girl started screaming immediately while the boy yelled... _At me?_

"You! You leave her alone, go away! Let her go, you can take me, take me, please, just leave her alone!

_Defiant to the end, little scrambler? Too bad life just doesn't work that way. _For one short instant he saw another face on the boy in the chair._ No! You're not here and he's not you! I'm not doing this because of you. I'm not!_

"My, my, you are simply determined to trade your life for hers, aren't you?"

Victor traced one finger along the boy's cheek, drawing blood in its wake. The boy winced, but didn't avert his eyes.

"Are you sure you want to go down this road, kid?"

He traced a finger along the other cheek, this time cutting a little deeper, drawing more blood. Again the boy winced while tears appeared in his eyes.

"Do you feel that? Do you feel how much pain I can cause with just one finger? Imagine what I can do with one hand. Or both hands. And that's only superficial pain. This is nothing compared to what I can do to you if I cut deeper."

Without warning Victor grabbed the boy's chin, fixating his head. _Let's see if you're still the knight in shining armor after I'm through with you. _He extended the claw on his index finger, then pushed his claw into the first wound. The boy whimpered. Victor pushed deeper. Tears started flowing down the boy's face.

"Don't be such a wuss, it's just a fleshwound after all. Only a superficial cut."

Ever so slowly his finger traced the first wound, cutting through the underlying layers of skin, fat and muscle. The blood, only a trickle at first, flowed freely. When Victor was half-way through, the boy moved his jaw. He was whispering something, so Victor leaned in closer.

"Please stop, please... Please stop, I'm sorry, I'll be quiet, I'll be quiet, please stop, please stop..."

_Now that's more like it._

"See?" Victor whispered in the boy's ear. "That wasn't so hard, was it? You're just a scared little kid, nothing more. There's no shame in that. Well, not a lot, anyway."

Victor pulled his finger from the wound, pleased with what he saw. _They all cave in at the end. All of them. Except you, Jimmy. You never backed down, not once. Not even when you knew you would lose. And I hate you for it!_ When he looked at the girl, he saw her looking back. Her screaming had stopped as soon as he had started hurting the boy. Now she just sat there, staring at him and the boy in turn.

"What the hell are you looking at, little bitch? I haven't forgotten what you tried to do to me before. I'll get to you when I'm finished with him, so just sit back and await your turn!"

He turned his attention to the boy again. _Now, where to start?_ He grabbed the kid's head again, forcing him to look up. Victor held his hand in front of him, slowly extending all his claws. Almost immediately the boy started to whisper again.

"No, no, please, no, don't, don't hurt me, don't hurt me, stop, please don't, _take her_..."

_What?_ Victor stood up straight. _Oh, that's a treat! I never thought he'd stoop so low to actually say that!_

"What did you say? Did I hear that correctly? Did you actually say _take her_? Why, you whiny little mutant freak, I was gonna _take her_ anyway. Or did you think I'd let her get off without a scratch? But this... You have sealed both your fates with that remark. Just for that I'll let you go... And I'll _KILL_ her instead."

**Why?**

"Huh? Who said that?"

The voice had sounded familiar. It hadn't come from the children, Victor was sure of that. _So... What's going on here?_ That nagging feeling of unease, of wrongness, tugged at his mind again. _Who said that?_

"Who said that?"

No one answered. It's _probably just... Just what? My imagination? I'd never imagine things like this._ He turned his attention to the children again. _No matter. I have other things to do than to worry about imaginary voices. Probably the... stress I've been under._ In the short moments since he heard that one word the girl had started screaming her head off, while the boy stared at the floor. _Good._ Victor moved over to the peculiar little girl. _Stryker should never have abducted her. She's beyond useless. So why not just rid the world of another useless piece of meat?_

"Frightenend, useless, little girl. I'll be doing you a favor by putting you out of your misery. And you!" He addressed the broken boy. "You'd better watch what I'm gonna do to her and be glad it's not you. If you so much as look away, I'll hurt her even more. So remember... You're responsible for how much pain she's gonna endure before I kill her!"

**Why?**

"What the... What the HELL? Who are you? Show yourself!"

**Why do you do this?**

_The voice... In my head? Fuck this, what's going on?_

**Why do you torture those children? Why are you doing this to them? What do you get out of it?**

_'Who the fuck are you and what are you doing in my head? GET OUT!'_

Silence. _This can't be real. Am I losing my mind? After all those years..._ Again Victor focused on the girl. Without warning he slashed open her chest. Her screams rose in pitch, so Victor did something he normally didn't do: He ripped out her tongue. Blood streamed from her mouth and chest. She coughed, gurgled, almost suffocated.

"Oh, no you don't."

He pushed her forward, forcing her to expel the excess blood. A quick glance at the boy told Victor he was still watching.

"You don't get to die unless I decide it's time."

Next to him Victor heard gagging sounds. The smell of vomit reached his nose, where it shot straight to his forehead and made his eyes water. _Damn it! That smell will linger for days!_ In front of him the girl was weakening quickly. _That'll teach me to overreact. Now I have to finish it faster than I wanted. Perhaps I'll just have to kill the boy too._ Just as Victor pulled back his hand to finish off the girl with a big blow, the voice invaded his mind. Only this time it also froze up all his muscles.

**Where are you? Who are those children? Why are you doing this? Who's Stryker? Who's... Jimmy?**

_'You __keep him out of this! Get out of my head! Let me go, show yourself and I'll show YOU who I am!'_

**Tell me what I need to know, Victor. Tell me what's going on here. Tell me about the children, about the facility, about everything. I NEED TO KNOW! TELL ME EVERYTHING!**

_'Forget it! You can't force me to do anything! No one could ever tell me what to do! Only... Only Jimmy could do that...'_

Just like that, the voice faded. His muscles relaxed. The room and the children faded, leaving behind a bright, white light. Somewhere in the distance Victor heard two people talking.

"It's no use, Eric, that memory didn't tell me much. It confirmed what we already know about the island. Victor did, however, reveal two names. One is Orville, a mutant that secretes neurotoxines, has a cybernetic arm and leg and carries a scythe. The other one is... Jimmy. Apparently, Victor has strong feelings for this person. I couldn't get a clear picture of this Jimmy, but I think it's family. Maybe even a brother. And I think... I got this feeling, Eric. He's _old_. It felt like he's been around for more than a hundred years. If that's true, that would account for his ability to effectively resist me. A mind of that age is powerful, even if it doesn't have any telepathic powers whatsoever."

"That's all very interesting, Charles, but will it help us get the answers we need? If what you say is true, than he's of absolutely no use to us. If you can't get him to talk, I certainly won't. Unless you let me question him in my own way, hm?"

"Eric, you know I can't do that."

"Why not, Charles? It's not like what you're doing is more morally right than what I would do. Or are you still convinced everything you do is somehow ethical?"

"We've already had this conversation and I won't go into this again. Not now, anyway. It's just a matter of time. I just started reviewing his memories and this one jumped to the front. We've only been at this for a few minutes, I'll just try again. And this time I'll focus more on this Jimmy-character. I hope it won't be another memory with... I could barely stop him from preceding with his... butchery. Eric, I've never met someone with a mind such as this. He's just..."

"Evil? Come now, Charles, surely you can utter a word such at that. It's not like we've never faced evil before."

"No, that's not it. He's not _just_ evil. It's like he's part animal. Like it's in his nature. As if he doesn't even have a choice in the matter."

Both men were silent for a moment.

"But that's not the point. I'll go in again. Would you go see how Scott's doing? The sedative should have worn off by now and I'm sure Hank is going to want to talk to him. It would be better if you were present to speak on my behalf if needed."

"Of course, old friend. Just let me know if you find something else. And ask that bright boy, what's his name again? Ask him to search for the mutants you mentioned. Maybe he can find additional information."

"I'm asking him now. See you in a little while, old friend."

Around Victor the white light intensified. _I know who they are... '__Why can't I remember your names?'_

**Because I won't let you. Now... Let's see what other memories you have, mister Creed.**


	12. Hurt

**Author's Note:** This chapter took me a while to write, mainly because it delves deeper into Scott's past and... No, I won't go into that, just read it for yourself. I'm not too happy about the ending, I feel that it could've been more to the point somehow. But I AM happy with the underlying story that's told and how the relations with other characters develop. Anyway, I'm off to write the next chapter, when we return to the villain we love to hate, Victor Creed! And we'll get to read more about a certain event in Victor's past. What does he have in store for us? Wait and find out after you've read "Hurt". Enjoy!

**

* * *

**

_**Hurt**_

"Come on, drink all of it, it'll help you recover your strength even quicker. It's one of my own brews that, I'm sad to say, is specifically tailored for people in your situation."

Scott drank the rest of the bitter-tasting fluid. _Is he serious?_

"You mean to say this is not the first time someone got mind-punched into seeing strange visions of the future by a telepath he just met?"

This sarcastic question evoked a hearty laugh from Hank.

"Oh, you hit the nail right on the head with that one! Hehehe, no, of course something like _this_ has never happened before. But I do know a thing or two about the chemical imbalance one gets to endure after being subjected to such an invasive, telepathic... eh... procedure. Though you could hardly call it that, since Jean obviously didn't intend for this to happen. At least, that's what Charles says and I'm inclined to agree with him."

It was still strange for Scott to hear someone who looked like an ape with blue fur talk with such eloquence and at the same time have such a great sense of humor. _You must have a big sense of humor if you are to accept in some part that you look like that, I guess._ Suddenly Scott felt foolish about all the petty feelings he'd felt during the last couple of days. _No, during the last couple of months. Here I am, looking all but normal and constantly feeling sorry for myself, sitting next to someone who could well be the greatest scientist of our time, but is confined to a place such a this because of the way he looks. Because of an appearance he didn't get to choose._

"Eh... Doctor McCoy?"

Scott's serious tone of voice caused Hank to look at him. The smile on the other mutant's face disappeared instantly.

"Yes? And please, call me Hank. Doctor McCoy sounds too... Clinical."

"I think... I think I owe you an apology. I think I owe everyone here an apology."

"Now, why would you say such a thing? Surely you've done nothing wrong since you were brought here?"

Something in Hank's words made Scott feel even more sorry. He knows. He won't say it, but he knows. He continued.

"I... I haven't been as... _Nice... _As I could have been to people. Especially to the professor. Even though I still don't like the way he acted when I got here. It was wrong of me to go all-out on him like I did. Also, I didn't even give people a chance to get to know me. Well, except for Emma and Sean of course, but that's... Different. I kinda knew them already. And the fight... Somehow, I'd been asking for something like that to happen. So I could... So I could use my powers. I could use my powers... For... To..."

_To what? To make amends? To right the wrongs? To do what, exactly? _Hank, who'd been standing next to Scott's bed, pulled up a chair. Before Scott could continue, Hank finished his sentence.

"So you could use your powers to see if something right could come of them. To see if you could control them. To further increase your guilt, because then you'd have all the more reason to hate yourself. Something happened that you didn't have any control over and by trying to see if you could control those powers now, you wanted to hate yourself even more. But for what, Scott? What could be so _awful_, so horrifically _wrong_ that you try to hate yourself even more instead of telling yourself that it wasn't your fault?"

Scott felt the words rising in his throat. This time he knew he wouldn't be able to stop them. _But I don't want to tell! I don't want others to know what I did! Please don't... Listen to me! Please STOP!_

"It was my parents, okay? I did something horrible to my parents and now I'll never see them again! That's why I was in a foster home, that's why I didn't say anything when I heard about the whole parents-coming-to-the-school-thing! I was sitting at the breakfast table and my eyes hurt and my mom asked what was wrong and I... I... Fuck this! I shot her! I SHOT HER! I hit her with my eye-laser or whatever the hell you call it and it smashed her THROUGH THE WINDOW! I closed my eyes, but it was too late. My father... He came running down, looked at the scene and didn't understand it. I can only imagine what he must've thought... A broken window, me holding my head in my hands, rocking back and forth. He knew I'd done something wrong, but he didn't know what. So he came over and asked me what had happened. I just shook my head... I told him to go away, leave me alone. But he didn't. He didn't and suddenly he forced me to look at him and I opened my eyes and... Nothing happened! The relief I felt... I can't describe it. I started crying and my father was still clueless. He just held me... He just held me. That's the last time in a long time I felt safe. After a while he started talking, asking me to explain everything, asking where my mother was. At that moment I didn't know if she even was alive or not... I got scared, Hank! What if she were lying outside, dying? So I looked up, opened my eyes and wanted to tell him about it, when... When..."

At that moment Scott choked. The stream of words stopped. Tears streamed down his face and he shook all over his body. _Dad... Dad! I didn't mean to, I love you, I didn't want to!_ The look in his father's eyes in the moment before Scott's beam had hit him still haunted him. For just a second, before the hurt sank in, his father had looked at him with unconditional love. _And I betrayed that love..._ Scott felt Hank grasp his shoulder and squeeze it gently. Even though the hurt stayed, that small gesture of human companionship drove away the shivers.

"Scott? Scott, please... Let me hear your story. Let me help you judge what happened. The grief you carry with you... It'll consume you if you don't come to terms with it somehow. My words may sound hollow to you now, but there'll come a day when you'll thank me for saying them. Tell me. Tell me what happened to your father, Scott."

Scott took a deep breath. His own words lingered in his mind. _I wanted to tell him about it, when... When... He's right. I know he's right, but it's... Oh god, how can something that's in your mind hurt you so much?_

"I looked at him... I opened my mouth to tell him... And it came again. Without warning. My eyes didn't even burn that time! My power slammed my father into the wall. He crumpled to the ground. The wall... I could see the outlines his body had made. And the sound... Have you ever heard bone breaking, doctor- Hank, I mean. Do you know that sound? It's... indescribable. It's awful. It's..."

Again Scott choked. He almost took off his glasses just to wipe away the flood of tears. _I can't even do that! I can't... Why? WHY?_

"Why did it happen, Hank? Why did I do that? Why did I get this way? No one in my family is a mutant! No one! So why am I? Why, Hank? WHY DID THIS HAPPEN TO ME?"

Hank put his arms around Scott as he started to cry. The sorrow, the hurt, the anger, the confusion, everything poured out of him. Hank just held onto him, while he blurted out everything that had been haunting him for the past months.

"I g-got headaches... A-and they duh-didn't know w-what it was... M-my parents... The-they sent me to the hospital, got m-me tested... B-but they didn't know. They d-didn't know what was wrong with me!"

Scott's body shook as he gulped down air. The pain had been so bad. But now that he was finally talking about it, he felt relieved. _He's right... He's right! I have to tell someone, have to keep talking... And who else do I have left? Who else can I burden with... this?_ So Scott kept talking.

"A-after a while... The aches s-started to center a-around my eyes... They b-burned. They b-burned all the time. S-so they took me... You see, they thought it was my eyes. That I couldn't see w-well. But I could! They w-wouldn't listen... The d-doctor, he thought... It h-had something to do with m-my eyes being sensitive to certain light."

By now Scott started to calm down again. His shaking had subsided quite a bit while he was telling his story. He sat up straight and looked at Hank. To his surprise the blue-furred mutant had tears in his eyes too. Scott opened his mouth to continue, but Hank beat him to it.

"I... Scott, I don't know if it helps, but let me tell you this. It's not so much a question of 'why', but rather of 'how'. As clinical as that may sound, you being a mutant is not some punishment by a deity that does or does not exist. It is in your genes and for some reason your particular combination of genes gave you powers that are beyond those of most of the human population. But, forgive the expression, do not lose sight of everything that you have. And everything that you gained."

Hank's words struck a chord with Scott. He carefully wiped away most of his tears from underneath his glasses. _What's that? What's he saying?_

"Wh-what do you m-mean? E-everything that I... gained?"

Hank smiled.

"Scott, dear boy, have you looked at me? I mean, really looked at me? Not as the man you've come to know as a professor, as a friend perhaps, but as the man who doesn't look like a man anymore? What you're feeling, what you're going through... I've been there. In some ways, I'm still there... I can't go out in public without people staring at me, whispering about me. Sometimes they just scream when they see me. I... I had a rough time coming to terms with what I am, Scott. A very rough time. But that doesn't mean I'm trying to belittle your experiences. The point is, I get it. I get your questions. I get your feelings. But what I don't get, is why you've kept all the other things inside you for so long. Especially... Especially since you're not to blame."

Scot wanted to protest, say that it was his fault, that it was _his_ eyes that did it, but again Hank beat him to it.

"I won't hear you say that again, understood? Mutants gain their powers during their puberty, a time of immense emotions, triggered by hormones that rage through their bodies. When powers manifest, they are instable at first. They are tied to our most basic emotions. Over time we learn to control them. Mostly. But they're still influenced by how we feel. When your powers began to surface... You simply had no hold over them. They just 'switched on'. And that led to you inadvertantly hurting your parents. It was an unfortunate event, a random set of circumstances that was beyond your control. And you cannot go around blaming yourself for that! Besides... You're feeling sorry for it, aren't you? You don't get any satifaction from it. You beat yourself up over it every night. You see their faces every time you close your eyes. That alone proves you're not evil, that you're not a freak, that you don't want to use your powers unless you have to. That you, in fact, shy away from using them. So now, my young friend, you have a choice."

Hank stood up. When he looked at Scott, he didn't smile anymore. Instead, his eyes seemed to look right into Scott's soul. _What does he mean? I have a choice? A choice to do what?_

"Yes, Scott, I mean it. You have a choice. So let me ask you this: Are you going to let this haunt you for the rest of your life? Are you going to keep on feeling miserable about it? Or will you try to make amends? Will you use the power you have to try and make a difference? So that one day, when your parents will wake up, they'll see what their son has done? See that he's made them proud, that he didn't let them down?"

For the first time since the accident, Scott felt a glimmer of hope, a way to redeem himself. _Yes, my parents... What would they say if they saw me like this?_ To his astonishment he realized that he hadn't even thought about his parents in any other way than as mere victims. _I haven't thought about them as parents at all._ All he ever saw when he closed his eyes, were the empty faces of both his mom and dad after his beam had hit them. They'd been devoid of any emotion, just shells, no longer the people he'd known for all his life. Now he focused on them, really tried to remember their voices, how they looked before. _He couldn't. I... I can't remember? I can't even remember them? How... Why?_

Hank stood near the bed, resting one hand on Scott's right shoulder. He'd been watching the young mutant as his words sunk in. At first Scott's face had lightened up a little, but now it looked the same as before. Maybe even darker.

"Scott? What's wrong?"

"I can't... I can't remember them! I don't know... I can't hear their voices, I can't see their faces! All I can see is how they looked, how all but died, how... They were empty. They weren't my mom and dad anymore! Just puppets... Crumpled-up puppets, tossed aside. And I crumpled them. I crumpled them, Hank! Even if I didn't mean to, even if I didn't want to, I DID IT! It was me and only me..."

For a moment Scott felt as if his feelings would overwhelm him again. _No! I'm past that. It's time for change, time to face my fears._

"But I have to live with that. Even if I can't remember their faces, their voices, I have to make the right choice. You were right about that, Hank. All it took was for me to realize how the world works. Shit happens and sometimes there's not a thing you can do about it. I think... I think after all this time, it's time for me to go home. To visit my old house. It's time to face what happened there, not just run away from it. My parents... They wouldn't be proud of me, of what I've done, of the things I've felt and thought and said ever since that moment. It's time to show them what I'm made of! And who knows... I might even be able to visit them again..."

"Unfortunately, my boy, that will have to wait until you're feeling better. Physically, at least. I think you're mind is starting to heal. I wonder if that red-headed girl did something to you while the two of you were psychically... engaged."

Scott looked up to see Eric Lenhsherr standing in the doorway with half a smile on his face. _How long has he been standing there?_

"Don't look at me like that, dear boy. I entered the room just now and decided to wait until you were done saying whatever it was you wanted to get off your chest. And from what I heard you and Hank had a very helpful conversation. I do hope that what I said to you earlier helped bring about this change of heart in some small way. But that's not what I came here for, as you might have imagined."

Hank looked at Eric with a raised eyebrow, but said nothing. Scott looked at both men with a sinking feeling in his stomach. _I don't like Lenhsherr's smile. I don't like the look on Hank's face. And what Lenhsherr just said doesn't sound good. Not good at all._

"Charles asked me to check up on you, because he wanted to ask you something. But, seeing as he is otherwise engaged, he asked me to ask you instead. When he's done with his... work, he'd like to take a look inside your mind. With your permission, of course. Charles is a bit worried about possible lasting effects from what happened to you in the hallway. And perhaps it would be beneficial to you too, to help you make sense of what you allegedly saw."

_Look around... In my mind?_ Scott's first reaction was to refuse outright, but then it dawned on him what Lenhsherr had said. _Allegedly? ALLEGEDLY?_

"What I saw was real, as real as you, me and Hank, standing here, talking about it! Don't you EVER question me like that again, or I swear I'll-"

He stopped himself, realizing what he was saying, what he was doing. I'm threatening him? I'm threatening him after I saw what he can do? When he looked at Eric, he saw that the man hadn't flinched, hadn't een moved a muscle. Instead, his smile had widened. He turned towards Hank and saw that he was smiling too.

"Well, doctor McCoy, it seems both your special drink and your charms have pulled mister Summers out of his self-imposed misery at last. My work here is done, I think, so I'll go and see if Charles has made any progress with our mysterious-"

Lehnsherr's smile faded as soon as those last words left his mouth. His face hardened as he realized he'd said too much. Scott's mind raced as he processed this new information. _HE is down here too? My god, they're holding him in the infirmary? And what did he say before... The professor is 'working' on him. Doing what? Probing his mind? Is that the same thing he wants to do to me? And they're holding him... Holding him HERE? Why?_

"Now, Scott, don't do anything rash, the professor has everything under control."

Hank tried to smooth things over, but Scott had already made a decision.

"Please, Hank, don't. Don't tell me what to do or to feel, I think we're far past that, don't you? I won't go running off trying to kill him, although he probably deserves nothing less from what I've heard. But no, I just... I want to see him. And the professor. And then I'll decide. Then I'll choose."

Both men were silent. Scott noticed the looks they exchanged, but kept quiet. Then, without warning, Hank sighed.

"Alright. Eric will take you there. I have to go and tend to my other patients. Just remember what we talked about, will you? And if you want someone to talk to again, seek me out. Eric? Tell Charles I'll want to see him when he's done. I have something to discuss with him."

"Of course. Now, Scott, if you'll just follow me? And keep quiet when we enter the room. When Charles is ready, he'll let you know."

_Oh, I'll be quiet, alright,_ Scott thought as he stood up. To his suprise he didn't even feel dizzy. Well, at least that special brew works as good as Hank said. He followed Eric into the hallway, until they came at a door, not unlike the others. _Well, here goes._ The door opened and they stepped inside.


	13. Leave

**Author's Note: **Oh my god, she's back! Yes, after an extended leave of absence I'm flexing my writing muscles again. I won't bore you with my real life issues, but suffice it to say I wasn't in a very creative mood. Until now! In this chapter we return, as promised, to Victor's point of view. I hit a writer's block halfway through, but I've destroyed it utterly. Or, at least, that's what I hope. Well, enough chit-chat, I won't hold you much longer. Read, enjoy and let me know what you think. ^^

* * *

_**Leave**_

Victor shook his head. For a moment he'd felt a strange dizzyness, which was something he'd never felt again after his mutation had kicked in. Around him every noise faded for a second and smells seemed to disappear. _What the... What's going on here?_ He blinked a few times. A sudden rush of memories threatened to overwhelm him, when the world returned with a vengeance.

The scent of fear hit him like a brick wall. Victor had to blink again as he staggered to hold his balance. He took in his surroundings. _I know this place... I know where I am. I know..._ These thoughts faded even as he tried to hold onto them. _This... I'm... Stryker. When is he gonna give me the order to kill this piece of shit?_ He looked over the heads of the kneeling people from the small village they'd taken prisoner. From across the clearing Jimmy looked straight at him with a questioning look in his eyes, then shook his head once. Victor flashed his brother a feral smile. _You know what's coming, don't you, little brother? And you don't know how to stop it. How to stop ME. Hell, how much longer are you gonna resist what you feel? What you are, what WE are?_

Wade was done talking with the village elder, who didn't say anything other than the artifact they were searching for was sacred and had come from the sky. Stryker's face showed annoyance at the man's refusal to cooperate, so when he walked up to Victor the big mutant knew that his time had finally come.

"Victor?" was all Stryker said.

_At last!_ He looked at Jimmy again and flashed a razorthin smile. Without any warning he grabbed the man's head with one hand and simply twisted his wrist, snapping the neck in one fluid motion. _Too fast for my taste, but hey, if the boss wants it this way..._The sight of their elder being disposed of that easily made the villagers flee in panic. _Mindless cattle, nothing more. No more... than easy prey._ His team members opened fire immediately while Victor relished the sight, sound and smell of naked fear. _That's more like it!_ He grabbed the first man he saw and lifted his right hand, his claws extending to their maximum length.

"Victor!"

Out of nowhere his little brother appeared beside him and grabbed his hand. Time seemed to slow down as the two brothers looked at each other. Before Victor could say anything, Jimmy spoke.

"Don't even think about it."

The two men stood still, locked in the moment. Victor held the struggling man, Jimmy held Victor's raised hand. Victor looked into his younger brother's eyes and was unpleasantly surprised by what he saw. _He looks... tired. Weary. Maybe even... hurt? He... He hates this! Hates what we do here. He hates... Hates me. Hates what I am. And he hates the pleasure I get from what we do. He tried... He stopped me before. I... I let him stop me. I'm his brother, but he hates what I am! He hates me, because he knows we're the same. Deep down, he's an animal, like me. You like to kill, just as I do! So why don't you admit it? Why don't you SAY it?_

Unaware of Victor's thoughts, Jimmy sighed and said: "We didn't sign up for this. Put it down."

Confused by his own thoughts, the look in his brother's eyes and his tone of voice, Victor let go of the man he'd been holding. Anger started to rise up in him. _I'm your older brother, you should look up to me! Damn it, why can't you just BE LIKE ME?_

"What are you doing?" Victor asked with a dangerous tone in his voice. "We've finally got a good thing goin' here, don't you screw this up."

Jimmy just shook his head and said: "Enough. That's enough, we've done enough."

Victor's anger grew. He wanted to grab his brother, hurt him, beat some sense into him, but he restrained himself. Instead he spoke again, barely able to keep the anger from his voice.

"Who do you think you are? This is what we do. Maybe you'd rather be rotting in a hole somewhere 'till they figure out how to do away with us. Is that it? Huh?"

When Jimmy met Victor's gaze, the older brother regretted what he'd said instantly. The hurt in the eyes of his little brother was a stab through his heart. _Fuck that! It's too late now. I can't take it back. I can't... and I won't! I won't back down, not anymore! I'm through with you keeping me back!_ Victor readied himself in anticipation of the upcoming fight. In the past, Jimmy had always tried to argue with him and if that had failed, they would fight. Victor had always won. But his brother didn't do any of that. Instead, he only said two things.

"I'm done. You comin'?"

Without another word, without waiting for a response, Jimmy started to walk away, to the edge of the clearing. _Wait, what? He's... He's walking away? He can't be serious, he's leaving... He's not gonna try to persuade me? Not even gonna fight me?_ His stomach turned and it took Victor a moment to realize what he felt. Fear. Unadulterated, naked fear. _He can't go... He can't leave me! Don't you leave me, Jimmy, don't you DARE!_

"Jimmy!"

Victor's yell made his brother stop and turn around. They looked at each other again. Victor hesitated, unsure of what to say, so he blurted out the first thing that came to his mind.

"We can't just let you walk away."

In answer to Victor's statement Jimmy pulled his dog tags from his neck and threw them on the ground. His eyes seemed to ask Victor to come with him one last time, but Victor couldn't get himself to move. _He can't leave, he can't..._ His brother turned around and walked into the jungle. _NO!_

"Jimmy!"

_He's abandoning me... That bastard is walking out on me!_ Both fear and anger raged through his body, rooting him in place. The only thing Victor could do was yell at his brother one last time.

"JIMMY!"

The jungle swallowed his brother whole as the night was torn by thunder and lightning. Finally the anger broke through. _He left me! HE LEFT ME! I'll show him, I'll show him I'm better than him. I don't need you. I don't need you! I'M BETTER THAN YOU!_ A rage unlike anything he'd ever felt before overtook Victor. He roared, startling both Stryker and his team mates, unsheathed his claws and went on a rampage. _I'll kill every one of you, every last fucking one of you!_ No one tried to stop him. Even Stryker was at a loss for words, unprepared for the primal carnage he witnessed.

Every man, woman or child Victor came across met a painful, bloody end. Their screams shattered the silence between the thunderstrikes. He relished their fear, tasted their blood, embraced the animal that always lurked within him. Then, the instant before he gutted a little boy, his muscles froze and a voice boomed inside his head.

**STOP THIS SLAUGHTER IMMEDIATELY!**

Victor remembered hearing that voice before, but couldn't place it. All he knew was that it had stopped him from continuing his killing spree. His rage intensified even more.

'_GET OUT OF MY HEAD!'_

**NO! I won't let you go until you've told me what it is I just saw. I can't... Why can't I read your thoughts? And who is this Jimmy? Why does he mean so much to you? TELL ME!**

_Who's talking to me? What's going on here, what... _Suddenly, he remembered._ Ah... AH! I know you. We've met before. I know who you are... professor._

'_You can't read my thoughts because, this time, I won't let you. Jimmy's... He's...'_ For a moment, Victor faltered, his rage replaced with fear. Fear, and something else. Something... '_NO! Jimmy's... He's nothing, NOTHING! He's just a guy who abandoned his team, who betrayed his employer. He betrayed... Forget it! You won't get anything out of me. I see you. I see who you are. I see what makes you tick. I know it. I SMELL it. You can't force me into giving you what you want. That's against your principles. You tell yourself you're above such petty human ideals. That you're BETTER than that. Than us. But you don't have a clue about what lies beneath. About what it's like to become more than a mere human. I'm an animal, professor. And animals rely on instinct.'_

**What... How do you know who I am. I was blocking... What are you saying? What are you DOING?**

'_I'm not DOING anything, shit-for-brains. I've already done it. I'm looking forward to hurting you, professor. __I'm looking forward to it... A LOT.'_

* * *

Victor's eyes flew open. He roared as he let the rage from his memory empower him. His restraints snapped and he pulled the device from his head, crushing it without a second thought. In one fluid motion he jumped from the exam table and stretched his body.

" Aaahhhh... Now that's more like it. What kind of a host restrains his guests on an exam table and then tries to read their mind against their will? If I wouldn't know any better, I'd say you're almost as bad as I am. Almost."

The professor looked at Victor, still trying to understand what had happened. Victor could feel an invisible force trying to overtake his mind, trying to stop him. _Heh. Try all you want, you can't cage me! I know how to keep you out now. It's too simple, really. And well, I guess that renders you pretty defenseless against me, doesn't it?_

The look on the other man's face told Victor he'd realized the same thing. Even before the professor consciously made the decision to flee, the feral mutant saw his muscles tensing. _Oh, no you don't!_ With a mighty leap he pounced on the smaller man, slamming him into the ground.

"Tsk, tsk, _professor_. Leaving so soon? And just when we were starting to get to know each other. No, I must insist that you stay here a bit longer. Especially since there's still SO much to talk about. Like how long you've been keeping your eye on the island. How you knew where to find those kids. And how the hell you knew WHEN to arrive to help them escape! Someone must've told you. Someone must've helped you! And even though I'm through with that moronic asshole Stryker, I want to track down whoever betrayed me! Are we clear on that, _professor_? And after that... Well, let's just say I'm only just beginning."

Every time Victor pronounced the word 'professor' he tried to make it sound as condescending as possible. _I'll make you pay for what you did to me. I'll make you HURT for what you did! And I'll make you regret the day you messed with my mind. When you asked... about Jimmy... James... My brother... _For the third time in a row the name of his half-brother stirred emotions that were hidden deep within his soul. Feelings rose to the surface, feelings that he didn't, no, _couldn't_ understand. _Why do I keep getting these thoughts? Why do I feel this? What are you doing to me? _Even Victor wasn't sure who he was referring to in his last question: the man held beneath him or his little brother. _Focus, dammit, FOCUS! Don't lose sight of your goals, don't let yourself be distracted. Distractions will get you killed!_

While that last thought lingered in Victor's mind, the doors in front of him opened. The next moment the mutant kid with the eyebeam he'd hunted down and captured a while ago looked straight at him. Behind him Victor saw the face of the man named Eric, who'd restrained him earlier. The newcomers froze for just a moment as they tried to make sense of what they were seeing. That moment was all Victor needed to spring into action. He let loose a terrifying roar as he pushed himself up and away from the man on the floor and lunged himself in the direction of his most dangerous adversary: the older man. _You had the element of surprise on your side before, but this time you're MINE!_

He'd aimed his punch perfectly and hit the older man square on the jaw. The powerful mutant went out like a light. _That only leaves four-eyes. Heh. Shouldn't be a problem. Last time we met, all he could do was run and scream like a girl._ Victor turned and was already halfway back into the room to finish off the professor, when a voice, hard as steel, stopped him.

"Don't even think about it, you fucking asshole."

_Oh, this is gonna be good._ He straightened his back, slowly looked around and glared at the pathetic excuse for a mutant that dared to talk to him.

"Whát did you say, you little runt?"

Instead of cowering or backing off, the boy straightened his back too in a perfect imitation of Victor's own movements.

"You heard me the first time, you worthless piece of shit. I said 'don't even think about it, you fucking asshole'. This time I'll even add in a new part. Don't even think about it, you fucking piece of worthless shit, or I'll kill you. Yeah, you heard that right: I'll KILL you. And don't doubt that, not even for a moment. I may not have been able to hurt you when we first met, but what you did to me, to US, well, let's say I learned from the master."

"Oh. Oh my. Oh my lord, this is precious. Do you, do you really, honestly think you stand any chance against me? Even after seeing what I can do? What I'm capable of? This is… priceless. This is… Oh, this is… Hohoho, oh, I'm sorry, I just can't… Excuse me for a moment… Hahahahahaha!"

Victor couldn't help it, he had to laugh. He doubled over, slammed his fists into the table and smiled the biggest smile ever. _Oh, you should've seen this, Jimmy. A kid, a KID, that thinks he can take me on!_ Tears formed in the corners of his eyes and all the while his opponents didn't do anything. The professor lay on the floor, staring at Victor, and the boy stood in the doorway, staring at the professor and Victor in turns. The smell of fear in the air diminished slightly. Immediately Victor stopped laughing. _This has gone on long enough. _His smile disappeared.

"Alright runt, no more fun and games. I want one thing, which is to get out of here. You want two things: To keep the professor safe and to kill me. Now here's the deal: You can't have both at the same time. I can walk out of here without harming either of you. You don't get your revenge, but your precious professor gets to live. You too, for that matter. You can get your revenge on me some other time. Or you try to stop me, in which case I will kill the professor before you can even blink, hurt you a bit for fun and walk out of here. You can still get your revenge on me some other time, but without the professor. And that's it. Oh, wait, there's a third option. I completely forgot! I kill you both, maybe kill some other mutants and walk out of here. Now there's a thought…"

For a moment Victor contemplated actually killing them both, but he decided that getting out of here was his top priority. I _have all the time in the world to come back later and finish what I started. Besides, if that other mutant wakes up… He's one to watch out for._ He took a step towards the kid, waiting for him to try something. Nothing happened. So Victor took another step, while watching his adversary. Again, nothing happened. _Heh. Guess he's still a pushover. No suprises there._ Even though the kid didn't try anything, he kept looking at Victor. If that's all he's gonna do, I'll be out of here in no time.

After a few steps, he was level with the boy. Victor inhaled deeply through his nose, memorizing every tiny scent that clung to the the young mutant. A whiff, a faint smell, a memory of an odor, so insignificant Victor almost didn't catch it, suddenly triggered an almost forgotten memory. _Him? HIM? It was… HIM? How did he… Never mind. I know it now, I know how you knew all those things, professor. I know your dirty little secret. _He put his hand on the boy's shoulder and spoke, loud enough for the professor to hear as well.

"Thanks, runt. I know all I needed to know. I know who the contact is. I have his scent. I can track him down now. Heh. Who would've thought a useless child like you would actually have something worthwhile for me? It's a miracle, I tell you. A miracle. See you around."

He shot a quick glance over his shoulder.

"And you too, professor."

Victor's mind was already occupied with what kind of lovely torture techniques he would use on the traitor when he walked away. The blast that knocked the air out of his lungs and him into the wall therefor took him completely by surprise.

"I said don't even think about it! You think I'm gonna let you walk away after everything you've done? You really think that? You really think you're better than me? Let's find out, shall we? Let's find out RIGHT NOW!"

A second blast caught Victor square on the chest, smashing him into the wall again. This time he actually felt a few ribs break_. That filthy little piece of shit! He shot me in the back. In the back!_ Victor grimaced when he stood up. His ribs and wounds were already healing. _He's got more balls than I gave him credit for. Maybe this is gonna be a challenge after all._ The prospect of a nice, clean fight brought the smile back to his face. His nails extended to their full length. _Oh, how I'm gonna enjoy this!_


	14. Fight

**Author's Note:** After another leave of absence I present to you the next chapter. I've already started work on the chapter after this one, so I hope that this time you won't have to wait as long as you did. For those of you wondering why the fight scene isn't longer: Let's just say that Victor sometimes doesn't even understand himself. All will be revealed later!

* * *

_**Fight**_

_Oh god, this feels so GOOD!_ Scott felt a rush unlike any other surge through his body as his second energy blast slammed Victor into the wall. _That will put him down for a few mo… ments…_ Even with blood trickling on the ground, his opponent grimaced only once as he got up. In the silence that followed Scott could've sworn he heard the other mutant's bones snapping back into place. And, judging from the huge smile that appeared on Victor's face only moments later, he was completely healed within mere moments. _That's… That's something I didn't factor in. But I should have. I should have! How else could he have recovered from that fight so quickly? I should have… Oh shit…_

Scott saw Victor's nails extending. A feeling of dread filled his heart. He'd seen that gesture too many times before. _No… No more playing around._ His throat tightened. _He's… He thinks… I'm a worthy adversary. Or at least enough of a nuisance to merit a 'real fight'._ The memories of the brutal slaughters he'd seen time and again threatened to overwhelm him. _NO! I can't let him beat me that way. I can't be afraid! I can't let him leave and go after… Sean. Or Emma…_ Just as before Scott's resolve hardened. _I must stop him! I must. But how?_

The beast-like mutant was stronger and faster than he was, he'd seen that before. Factor in the accelerated healing and how Victor had probably seen more combat than he could even imagine and Scott knew he was up against an enemy who would get the better of him sooner or later. _As soon as I'm in range of those claws, I'm dead_. A thin smile appeared on his face. _So… I mustn't let him get close._

"You worthless piece of shit, why don't you just DIE!"

When Scott said the word 'die' he let loose another of his optic blasts. Victor tried to leap out of the way, but the beam caught his left arm and sent him spinning into the wall again. _Please stay down, please stay down, please stay down…_ The childlike mantra didn't help. Victor seemed to struggle to regain his balance while getting up, but then he jumped to the left, around the corner and out of Scott's sight. _SHIT! People shouldn't be able to move that fast! At least he's still at a distance… _Scott strained his ears in hopes of picking up any sound that would tell him if the other mutant lay in wait or was making a run for it. It was no use, all he could hear was silence. _How long must I wait before I go and look at the professor?_

**You don't... have to wait... Scott.**

The professor's voice sounded faint, until Scott realized he was still subconsciously blocking him out. Xavier must be shouting for me to even hear that! He took down his barriers quickly.

_Professor? Are you alright? And is he... gone?_

**Yes. He is gone. For now, I must add. I keep getting flashes from him that show me he's left the underground facility. I never dreamed he'd be this inventive. Mister Creed knows exactly where to go and how to hack through our systems. It makes me wonder... I think Hank will have to have a good look at our security. This clearly shows there's a lot of room for improvement.**

_But how about you? Are you okay?_

**I... My pride has been hurt. That's all. The physical wounds are nothing compared to the utter shame I must admit to. It seems I had too much faith in my own abilities and those of my neural inhibitor to consider the possibility of meeting someone who could best them.**

"That could be a good thing, professor. It just... It makes you realize you have to be on your guard a bit more. Especially now that he knows where we are."

Scott turned around and walked over to Xavier to help him get to his feet.

"I wouldn't be too worried about that, Scott. Even though I didn't get as much useful information out of mister Creed as I would have liked, more than anything he seemed intrigued by the concept of this school. Besides, he knows we know about him now. And knowing your enemy is half the fight."

"I guess you're right about that. That's why I want to know everything you know about Victor Creed."

Scott's firm tone of voice surprised Charles. Together with the courage the young mutant had just showed when facing an enemy who could undoubtedly have taken him down if he'd so desired, Charles couldn't help but notice a change had taken place in Scott. Instead of an insecure teenager wrought with guild Charles looked up at a boy who was on the verge of becoming a young man. _Perhaps onde day he'll be the leader I'm looking for after all.

* * *

_"Scott... You are right. You deserve to know everything I know. You and your friends. But now, let's see to it that Eric gets some medical attention. That punch on the jaw knocked him out cold and I hope nothing's broken. Hank's on his way as we speak. I suggest you go to your friends and tell them about what has happened here. No point in me trying to bar you from doing that, since I have this uncanny feeling you won't listen to me anyway."

Scott smiled.

"Damn right, professor. Just let me know when we can talk about this. Oh, and before I forget: I will allow you to read my mind. But only if Emma's present when you do it. And... And I don't want Jean anywhere near me. I just... I can't remember what I saw exactly, but every time I think of Jean I'm happy... And I'm scared shitless at the same time. So if she could just stay out of my way, I'd appreciate that."

"I understand. Consider it done. Ah, there's Hank. Hank, Eric got hit on the chin pretty hard by our violent guest. See if you can help him. And on the chance of sounding like a broken record: I'll _really_ talk to you later, Scott."

"Scott? Scott! Oh god, you're alright, you're okay! I was so worried about you!"

Emma ran up to him and hugged him with a vengeance. Scott hugged her back, smelling her hair and enjoying the scent of her perfume. _Emma, I never would've though I miss you so much. I think... I think I'm love with you_. That thought made Scott smile like a madman. Sean stood back and watched the pair, grinning sheepishly, until Scott noticed that his friend was feeling a bit embarrassed.  
"Yeah, I was... ugh, please Emma, be careful, you're squashing me."

"Oh right, I was... I'm sorry, it's just that I missed you, you big jerk. Don't you ever scare Sean and me like that again!"

They let go of each other, but not before a look of understanding was shared between them. No words were necessary. They just knew how each felt about the other. _How can this be? I never dreamed a girl like her would love someone like me._ Their fingers caressed before they let go completely. The promise of a second meeting later tonight was made with that touch.

"Scott, come here pal, let me give you a manly hug!"

Both boys walked up to each other, slapped each other on the back pretty hard and stepped back again.

"Good to see you out and about after that red-haired freak got her hands on you."

Emma punched Sean and gave him a mean look.

"Sean! Don't call Jean a freak, she's only a mutant, just like us. She didn't do it on purpose, just like you didn't mean to scream like a banshee and rip through everyone's ear drums like you did."

"Hey! I'm NOT a banshee! I'm a... a..."

"You're a wee little piggy that screams like a girl! And then faints!"

"No fair! The professor did that, I just..."

Scott's snickering made Sean stop. Only then did the younger boy realize Emma was toying with him by pushing all his buttons. His eyes widened and he waved a finger in front of them.

"You... You're evil. Both of you. You are evil and you're teaming up on me. How's that fair? I just... No, no, don't say you're sorry, just let me leave with my dignity still intact."

The semi-serious tone and uptight body pose Sean used made it hard for Scott and Emma to keep their faces straight as Sean 'retreated' from the scene with a formal bow. Only after he was out of earshot did the both of them burst out laughing.

"Oh... My... God! That boy has got to be the best actor I've ever seen. Did you see that face he pulled? And that bow? He's... He's a little devil, that's what he is!"

Emma could only nod to show Scott she agreed with him. Her hearty laughter bounced around the corridor and accompanied them all the way to Scott's room. They stopped just outside his room. Once more their hands joined as they turned to face each other. Scott saw a faint blush on Emma's cheeks and he felt his cheeks redden in return. Suddenly they both felt shy and looked away, until Scott used his left hand to softly touch Emma's chin and turn her head to face him. He smiled. She smiled back. _God, I could drown in those eyes._

"So..." Scott said, letting the unspoken question linger in the air between them.

"So..." Emma imitated, her smile growing bigger.

"Do you wanna... come... into my room?"

As Scott heard the words leave his mouth, his cheeks felt even hotter than before. _Did I just say that? _Emme didn't answer right away. Instead she grabbed both his hands and lifted them to her lips to kiss them ever so gently. The silence seemed to last forever until eventually Emma answered.

"I'd like that."

Her answer sent shivers down Scotts spine. He unlocked his door and let her enter his room first. Emma walked over to his bed and sat down. Scott locked the door before joining her. They sat there for a while, enjoying each other's company, each thinking about the events that led to this moment. _Would she? Should I? Or shall I just... No, I mustn't think like that! She's my friend, a very special friend and I don't want her to think of me as a... a... But would she? Should I?_

When Scott finally had the courage to look at her, Emma was already looking at him. Her smile told him all he needed to know. Again their hands found each other without looking and they both leaned into their first kiss. Another shiver ran down Scotts spine and settled in his abdomen, where it soon grew into physical lust. They grabbed hold of one another, pushed their bodies together and kissed fiercely, hungrily. Scotts thoughts raged inside his skull. _Should I? Should we? Would she?_ He felt her body heat through her clothes and became aware of how hot his own body was. _No, I... I can't. Not now. Not here. Not like this. I love her too much for this, I don't want to hurry._

At the exact same moment their fierce kisses and tight embrace changed into something more than physical attraction. Scott felt how Emma leaned her head against his chest and simply held him. He put his arms around her and enjoyed the feel of her body against his.

"Scott?"

"Yes Em?"

"I just... Would you... I mean... Could I sleep with you tonight? Not like, you know... But just... Just lay beside you? And hold you?"

"I'd like that, Em. I'd like that very much. Maybe that way we both get to sleep without dreaming. I... I mean, it's not that I don't want to dream, dreaming about you would be nice, but it's... I want... I just..."

Emma kissed Scott's lips ever so lightly.

"Sshh, it's okay. I understand. What dreams may come, we won't have to face them alone."

She grabbed his hands and gave them a squeeze.

"Well, I'll be right back. I just have to get some things from my room. See you in a few minutes!"

The door closed and Scott was alone. However, this time the coming night didn't fill him with dread, but with joy. _She's coming back and then we're gonna sleep together in my bed! I get to hold her all through the night and feel her and smell her and be with her!_ His eyes widened. _Eh, but that also means she gets to smell ME!_ One quick sniff under his armpits told him enough. _And I'm sure my breath isn't minty fresh anymore either. I have to shower and brush my teeth and I have to do it NOW!_

When Emma returned to Scott's room she could barely restrain her laughter. She knew exactly why he was taking a shower, because she'd done the same thing. _Silly boy. And I'm a silly girl._ So she sat down on the bed and waited patiently for Scott to finish.


End file.
